Meaning of 尾巴
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- tail
- colloquial pr. [yi3 ba5]
How to use 尾巴
尾巴 is the everyday word for an animal's tail, and it can also mean the tail end of something or a person who follows you around. Example: 小狗一直摇尾巴。(Xiǎo gǒu yìzhí yáo wěiba.) The puppy keeps wagging its tail.
尾 (wěi) shows a body 尸 with hair 毛 hanging off the back end, which is the tail. 巴 (ba) is a neutral-tone noun ending you also see in 嘴巴 (zuǐba), so 尾巴 is simply "the tail thing."
Common mistake: Learners often stress the second syllable as bā, but in 尾巴 it is a light neutral tone: wěiba. Also do not confuse 尾 (wěi) with 屁 (pì), which shares the 尸 top but means something quite different.
尾巴 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.
尾 wěi · tail · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
巴 bā · to desire · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 尾巴.
| 嘴巴 | zuǐba | mouth (CL:張|张[zhang1]); slap in the face |
| 巴士 | bāshì | bus (loanword); motor coach |
| 大巴 | dàbā | (coll.) large bus; coach |
| 结尾 | jiéwěi | ending; coda |
| 巴不得 | bābudé | (coll.) to be eager for; to long for |
| 尾声 | wěishēng | coda; epilogue |
| 尾气 | wěiqì | exhaust; emissions |
| 追尾 | zhuīwěi | to tailgate; to hit the car in front as a result of tailgating |
| 下巴 | xiàba | chin |
| 鸡巴 | jība | dick; penis (vulgar) |
| 鸡尾酒 | jīwěijiǔ | (calque) cocktail |
| 乡巴佬 | xiāngbalǎo | (derog.) country bumpkin; hick |
Questions about 尾巴
What does 尾巴 mean?
尾巴 (wěiba) means "tail; colloquial pr. [yi3 ba5]" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 尾巴?
尾巴 is made of 2 characters: 尾 (7 strokes), 巴 (4 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 尾巴 an HSK word?
Yes. 尾巴 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why do some people say yǐba instead of wěiba?
The dictionary notes yǐba as a colloquial pronunciation heard in casual northern speech. Wěiba is the standard reading and the one you should learn first.
What does 尾巴 mean when talking about people or tasks?
It can mean someone tailing or following you, as in 有尾巴 (yǒu wěiba), "being followed." It can also mean leftover unfinished work, as in 留尾巴 (liú wěiba), "to leave loose ends."