"Word" • Chinese-English Dictionary

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说话 shuō huà to speak / to say / to talk / to gossip / to tell stories / talk / word
词汇 cí huì vocabulary / list of words (e.g. for language teaching purposes) / word
词语 cí yǔ word (general term including monosyllables through to short phrases) / term (e.g. technical term) / expression
字 zì letter / symbol / character / word / CL:個|个[ge4] / courtesy or style name traditionally given to males aged 20 in dynastic China
单词 dān cí word / CL:個|个[ge4]
单字 dān zì single Chinese character / (Tw) word (of a foreign language)
语词 yǔ cí word / phrase / (old) (grammar) function word / predicate
联想 lián xiǎng to associate (cognitively) / to make an associative connection / mental association / word prediction and auto-complete functions of input method editing programs
一句话 yī jù huà in a word / in short
总之 zǒng zhī in a word / in short / in brief
字数 zì shù number of written characters / number of words / word count
大有 dà yǒu there is a great deal of ... (typically followed by a bisyllabic word, as in 大有希望[da4you3-xi1wang4]) / (literary) bumper harvest / abundance
打招呼 dǎ zhāo hu to greet sb by word or action / to give prior notice
口令 kǒu lìng oral command / a word of command (used in drilling troops or gymnasts) / password (used by sentry)
台词 tái cí an actor's lines / dialogue / Taiwanese word
忠告 zhōng gào to give sb a word of advice / advice / counsel / a wise word
会社 huì shè a guild / (in olden times) an association such as a political party, religious group or trade guild / the Japanese word for company
不动声色 bù dòng shēng sè not a word or movement (idiom) / remaining calm and collected / not batting an eyelid
一言不发 yī yán bù fā to not say a word (idiom)
好话 hǎo huà friendly advice / words spoken on sb's behalf / a good word / kind words / words that sound fine but are not followed up with actions
总而言之 zǒng ér yán zhī in short / in a word / in brief
收音 shōu yīn to receive a radio signal / to make an audio recording / (of an auditorium etc) to have good acoustics / (vocal training, linguistics) ending (of a word or syllable)
文字处理 wén zì chǔ lǐ word processing
叫板 jiào bǎn to signal the musicians (in Chinese opera, by prolonging a spoken word before attacking a song) / (coll.) to challenge
守信用 shǒu xìn yòng to keep one's word / trustworthy
吭声 kēng shēng to utter a word
引申 yǐn shēn to extend (the meaning of a word, an analogy etc) / derivation
算数 suàn shù to count numbers / to keep to one's word / to hold (i.e. to remain valid) / to count (i.e. to be important)
词库 cí kù word stock / lexicon
活用 huó yòng to apply (knowledge etc) creatively and flexibly / to use a word flexibly (e.g. a noun as an adjective)
感化 gǎn huà corrective influence / to reform (a criminal) / redemption (of a sinner) / to influence (a malefactor to a better life) / to guide sb back to the right path by repeated word and example
一窍不通 yī qiào bù tōng lit. doesn't (even) enter a single aperture (of one's head) / I don't understand a word (idiom) / it's all Greek to me
送信 sòng xìn to send word / to deliver a letter
词义 cí yì meaning of a word
字头 zì tóu single-character headword (in a dictionary) / first character of a Chinese word / the top part (esp. a radical) of a Chinese character / the initial of a Chinese syllable
音译 yīn yì transliteration (rendering phonetic value, e.g. of English words in Chinese characters) / characters giving phonetic value of Chinese word or name (when the correct characters may be unknown) / transcription (linguistics) / to transcribe phonetic symbols
吱声 zhī shēng to utter a word / to make a sound / to cheep / to squeak / also pr. [zi1 sheng1]
下 xià down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action
避讳 bì hui to avoid a taboo word or topic / to refrain from / to avoid
生词 shēng cí new word (in textbook) / word that is unfamiliar or not yet studied / CL:組|组[zu3],個|个[ge4]
一言一行 yī yán yī xíng every word and action (idiom)
密语 mì yǔ code word / coded language / to communicate in private
点破 diǎn pò to lay bare in a few words / to expose with a word / to point out bluntly
三字经 sān zì jīng (slang) swearword / four-letter word
搭话 dā huà to talk / to get into conversation with / to send word
转口 zhuǎn kǒu entrepot / transit (of goods) / (coll.) to deny / to go back on one's word
福晋 fú jìn in Qing dynasty, Manchurian word for wife
不做声 bù zuò shēng keep silent / not say a word
变卦 biàn guà to change one's mind / to go back on one's word
进言 jìn yán to put forward a suggestion (to sb in a senior position) / to offer a word of advice
简写 jiǎn xiě to write characters in simplified form / the simplified form of a character / to abbreviate (a word or expression) / to write in simple language
传扬 chuán yáng to spread (by word of mouth)
言听计从 yán tīng jì cóng to see, hear and obey (idiom) / to take advice / to take sb at his word
分词 fēn cí participle / word segmentation
字根 zì gēn component of a Chinese character / (linguistics) word root / etymon
守口如瓶 shǒu kǒu rú píng lit. to guard one's mouth like a closed bottle (idiom) / tight-lipped / reticent / not breathing a word
出尔反尔 chū ěr fǎn ěr old: to reap the consequences of one's words (idiom, from Mencius) / modern: to go back on one's word / to blow hot and cold / to contradict oneself / inconsistent
一语道破 yī yǔ dào pò one word says it all (idiom) / to hit the nail on the head / to be pithy and correct
暗语 àn yǔ code word
照抄 zhào chāo to copy word for word
组词 zǔ cí to combine words / word formation
暗合 àn hé to agree implicitly / of one mind / views coincide without a word exchanged
讳莫如深 huì mò rú shēn important matter that must be kept secret (idiom) / don't breathe a word of it to anyone!
被 bèi quilt / to cover (with) / (literary) to suffer (a misfortune) / used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb) / (since c. 2009) (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes (as in 被旅遊|被旅游[bei4 lu:3you2] to "go on a trip")
成语接龙 chéng yǔ jiē lóng game where the last word of one idiom 成語|成语[cheng2 yu3] is the first of the next
虚词 xū cí (linguistics) function word
言而无信 yán ér wú xìn untrustworthy / not true to one's word
口诛笔伐 kǒu zhū bǐ fá to condemn in speech and in writing (idiom) / to denounce by word and pen
头文字 tóu wén zì initial / first letter of word (in Latin script)
说一不二 shuō yī bù èr to say one and mean just that (idiom) / to keep one's word
一言以蔽之 yī yán yǐ bì zhī one word says it all (idiom, from Analects) / to cut a long story short / in a nutshell
词意 cí yì meaning of word / sense
量 liàng capacity / quantity / amount / to estimate / abbr. for 量詞|量词[liang4 ci2], classifier (in Chinese grammar) / measure word
铁幕 tiě mù Iron Curtain (1945-1991) (In Taiwan, the word was used to refer to both the Iron Curtain and the Bamboo Curtain.)
词法 cí fǎ morphology (linguistics) / word formation and inflection
实词 shí cí (linguistics) content word
缩略语 suō lu:è yǔ abbreviated word / acronym
构词 gòu cí composite word
守约 shǒu yuē to keep an appointment / to keep one's word
词类 cí lèi (linguistics) part of speech / word class / lexical category
禅机 chán jī Buddhist allegorical word or gesture / subtleties of Buddhist doctrine
语序 yǔ xù word order
量词 liàng cí classifier (in Chinese grammar) / measure word
格致 gé zhì to study the underlying principle to acquire knowledge (abbr. for 格物致知[ge2 wu4 zhi4 zhi1]) / word for Western natural sciences during late Qing
格物 gé wù to study the underlying principles, esp. in neo-Confucian rational learning 理學|理学[li3 xue2] / word for Western natural sciences during late Qing
呢 ne particle indicating that a previously asked question is to be applied to the preceding word ("What about ...?", "And ...?") / particle for inquiring about location ("Where is ...?") / particle signaling a pause, to emphasize the preceding words and allow the listener time to take them on board ("ok?", "are you with me?") / (at the end of a declarative sentence) particle indicating continuation of a state or action / particle indicating strong affirmation
字斟句酌 zì zhēn jù zhuó weighing every word
韵脚 yùn jiǎo rhyming word ending a line of verse / rhyme
连写 lián xiě to write without lifting one's pen from the paper / (in the Romanization of Chinese) to write two or more syllables together as a single word (not separated by spaces)
扣帽子 kòu mào zi to tag sb with unfair label / power word
查 chá to research / to check / to investigate / to examine / to refer to / to look up (e.g. a word in a dictionary)
词源 cí yuán etymology / origin of a word
词缀 cí zhuì prefix or suffix of a compound word / affix (linguistics)
捎信 shāo xìn to take a letter / to send word
答 dā bound form having the same meaning as the free word 答[da2], used in 答應|答应[da1ying5], 答理[da1li5] etc
词序 cí xù word order
哪 na (emphatic sentence-final particle, used instead of 啊[a5] after a word ending in "n")
弟 dì younger brother / junior male / I (modest word in letter)
约言 yuē yán promise / one's word / pledge / abbreviation
背约 bèi yuē to break an agreement / to go back on one's word / to fail to keep one's promise
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