胳

肐

gē, gā, gé

各 + 月

Definitions

gē (noun) armpit

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 各 represents the sound. Simplified form of 肐.

Semantic: ⺼ Phonetic: 各

About

胳 is the simplified form of 肐 and a phono-semantic compound. Its left side, ⺼ (the "flesh" radical, written as 月), derives from 肉 and marks the character as relating to body parts. The right side, 各 (gè), supplies the pronunciation. The character primarily denotes the arm, especially the area from shoulder to hand or the armpit, and appears almost exclusively in anatomical compound words.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

他举起了胳膊。

Tā jǔqǐle gēbo.

He raised his arm.

妈妈轻轻地拍了拍孩子的胳膊。

Māmā qīngqīng de pāi le pāi háizi de gēbo.

Mother gently patted the child's arm.

他胳膊下面夹着一个公文包。

Tā gēbo xiàmiàn jiāzhe yīgè gōngwénbāo.

He is carrying a briefcase under his arm。

我摔了一跤，胳膊肘擦破了皮。

Wǒ shuāile yī jiāo, gēbozhǒu cāpòle pí.

I fell down and scraped the skin on my elbow.

弟弟的胳膊很瘦弱，没什么力气。

Dìdi de gēbo hěn shòuruò, méi shénme lìqì.

My younger brother's arms are very skinny and not very strong.

干活前，他挽起了胳膊上的袖子。

Gànhuó qián, tā wǎn qǐle gēbo shàng de xiùzi.

Before starting work, he rolled up the sleeves on his arms.

在医学上，胳膊的上臂和前臂结构不同。

Zài yīxué shàng, gēbo de shàngbì hé qiánbì jiégòu bùtóng.

Medically, the upper arm and the forearm of the arm have different structures.

经过反复争论，他意识到胳膊拧不过大腿。

Jīngguò fǎnfù zhēnglùn, tā yìshí dào gēbo nǐng bùguò dàtuǐ.

After repeated arguments, he realized that the arm cannot twist the thigh (meaning one can't win against a much stronger power).

Related Characters

Component: 各

Component: 月

胳