Meaning of 皮球
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- ball (made of rubber, leather etc)
How to use 皮球
皮球 usually means a simple inflatable rubber ball for children, not a specific sports ball like 篮球 (lánqiú). It also appears in the idiom 踢皮球 (tī píqiú), which means passing responsibility back and forth. Example: 孩子们在院子里踢皮球。(Háizimen zài yuànzi lǐ tī píqiú.) The children are kicking a ball in the yard.
皮 (pí) means skin or leather, and 球 (qiú) means ball. A 皮球 is simply a ball with a skin of rubber or leather, the kind kids kick around.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 皮 as pò because it looks like the right side of 破 (pò, broken). In 皮球 it is always pí with a second tone, and both syllables are rising: pí qiú.
皮球 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.
皮 pí · skin · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
球 qiú · ball · 11 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
Related words
Words that share a character with 皮球.
| 打球 | dǎ qiú | to play a ball sport |
| 地球 | dìqiú | the earth |
| 球队 | qiúduì | sports team (basketball, soccer, football etc) |
| 球场 | qiúchǎng | stadium; sports ground |
| 篮球 | lánqiú | basketball |
| 网球 | wǎngqiú | tennis; tennis ball |
| 排球 | páiqiú | volleyball |
| 球鞋 | qiúxié | athletic shoes |
| 全球 | quánqiú | the whole world; worldwide; global |
| 足球 | zúqiú | soccer; football; a soccer ball; a football |
| 球迷 | qiúmí | fan (ball sports) |
| 皮包 | píbāo | handbag; briefcase |
Questions about 皮球
What does 皮球 mean?
皮球 (píqiú) means "ball (made of rubber, leather etc)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 皮球?
皮球 is made of 2 characters: 皮 (5 strokes), 球 (11 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 皮球 an HSK word?
Yes. 皮球 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 踢皮球 mean besides kicking a ball?
Figuratively, 踢皮球 (tī píqiú) means to pass the buck, like offices sending a problem to each other. For example: 这几个部门一直在踢皮球。(Zhè jǐ gè bùmén yìzhí zài tī píqiú.) These departments keep passing the buck.
Can I use 皮球 for a soccer ball or basketball?
In casual speech people may, but it sounds childish or vague. For sports balls, use the specific word such as 足球 (zúqiú) or 篮球 (lánqiú), or just 球 (qiú).