Meaning of 咬
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to bite
- to nip
- variant of 咬[yao3]
How to use 咬
咬 is an everyday verb for biting with the teeth, used for people, animals and insects. It often takes a result complement like 咬了一口 (took a bite) or 咬伤 (bitten and injured). Example: 小心，那只狗会咬人。(Xiǎoxīn, nà zhī gǒu huì yǎo rén.) Careful, that dog bites.
咬 (yǎo) has 口 (kǒu, mouth) on the left and 交 (jiāo, to cross or meet) on the right. Picture the top and bottom teeth of a mouth meeting together to bite.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the right side as 父 or 文 instead of 交, which has a dot and a horizontal stroke on top. Also keep the third tone yǎo, and do not confuse it with 要 (yào, to want).
咬 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
咬 yǎo · to bite · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 咬.
| 咬伤 | yǎoshāng | bite (e.g. snake bite, mosquito bite) |
| 咬牙 | yǎoyá | to clench one's teeth; to grind the teeth |
| 咬痕 | yǎohén | bite scar |
Questions about 咬
What does 咬 mean?
咬 (yǎo) means "to bite; to nip" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 咬?
咬 is made of 1 character: 咬 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 咬 an HSK word?
Yes. 咬 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can 咬 be used for mosquito bites?
Yes. Chinese says 蚊子咬了我 (wénzi yǎo le wǒ) for a mosquito bite, even though mosquitoes do not really have teeth. You may also hear 叮 (dīng) for stinging insects.
What does 咬牙 mean figuratively?
Besides clenching your teeth, 咬牙 means to grit your teeth and endure something hard. For example, 咬牙坚持 (yǎoyá jiānchí) means to tough it out and keep going.