Chinese word

骨头

Pronunciation

Pinyingǔ tou

Meaning

  • nounbone

Example

汤里有一块骨头，别吃。tāng lǐ yǒu yí kuài gǔ tou bié chī

There is a bone in the soup, so don't eat it.

Illustration for 骨头 (bone)

More examples

孩子在桌子旁啃骨头。hái zi zài zhuō zi páng kén gǔ tou

A child is chewing on a bone beside the table.

Core concept

The solid inner structure that gives a body support and can be noticed as a separate piece.

Common phrases

  • 啃骨头kén gǔ tou

    chew on a bone

  • 骨头汤gǔ tou tāng

    bone broth

  • 一块骨头yí kuài gǔ tou

    a piece of bone

Similar words

骨gǔ: One hard part of a person's or animal's body that gives support and protects the organs.
骨骼gǔ gé: The body's whole bone framework and the way its bones are arranged.

Definition in Chinese

指构成人或动物体内的坚硬组织，既可指单个骨块，也可泛指骨骼的某一部分，口语中常用来表示汤或菜里可见的那种骨片。zhǐ gòu chéng rén huò dòng wù tǐ nèi de jiān yìng zǔ zhī jì kě zhǐ dān gè gǔ kuài yě kě fàn zhǐ gǔ gé de mǒu yí bù fèn kóu yǔ zhōng cháng yòng lái biǎo shì tāng huò cài lǐ kě jiàn de nà zhǒng gǔ piàn

Word origin

In 骨头 (gǔtou, "bone"), 骨 (gǔ, "bone") carries the main meaning and 头 (tou, "head") turns it into a familiar spoken noun without adding the meaning "head".

Usage tips

  • A bare noun does not show singular or plural by itself, so the surrounding context indicates whether one bone or several are meant.

Related words

  • 骨头汤gǔ tou tāngbone brothnoun
  • 硬骨头yìng gǔ toutough nutnoun

Word lists with this word