臂 (bì): arm
臂 (bì) is a Chinese character meaning “arm.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辟 (phonetic) and ⺼ (semantic). It ranks #1674 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 臂 flesh. Its radical form 肉 (meat) appears in many related characters such as 肉 (ròu, meat), 能 (néng, can), 背 (bèi, the back of a body or object).
Definitions
- arm
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 臂 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 臂
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 双臂noun | shuāng bì | arms |
| 臂膀noun | bì bǎng | arm |
| 臂弯noun | bì wān | crook of the arm |
| 前臂noun | qián bì | forearm |
| 胳臂noun | gē bei | arm |
| 失之交臂phrase | shī zhī jiāo bì | to miss narrowly |
| 左膀右臂noun | zuǒ bǎng yòu bì | (idiom) trusted assistant |
| 臂章noun | bì zhāng | armband |
| 臂力noun | bì lì | arm strength |
| 长臂猿noun | cháng bì yuán | gibbon |
| 膀臂noun | bǎng bì | upper arm |
| 上臂noun | shàng bì | upper arm |
| 悬臂noun | xuán bì | cantilever |
| 振臂一呼phrase | zhèn bì yī hū | (idiom) to issue a call for action |
| 助一臂之力 | zhù yī bì zhī lì | to lend a helping hand (idiom) |
臂 appears in 48 compound words: 17 as the first character, 56 as the last, and 27 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 臂 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to control or handle someone or something effectively and easily; to be in perfect command of
to control or handle someone or something effectively and easily; to be in perfect command of
Example Sentences
她张开双臂，热情地拥抱了久别的朋友。
Tā zhāngkāi shuāng bì, rèqíng de yōngbào le jiǔbié de péngyou.
She opened her arms wide and warmly hugged her long-lost friend.
非经期出血竟然系癌症 洗肾妇靠机械臂手术顺利完成分期治疗
fēi jīng qī chū xiě jìng rán xì ái zhèng xǐ shèn fù kào jī xiè bì shǒu shù shùn lì wán chéng fēn qī zhì liáo
Bleeding Outside the Menstrual Cycle Turns Out to Be Cancer; Dialysis Patient Successfully Completes Staging Treatment via Robotic Surgery
新/士林小货车吊臂未收勾电缆 火花四射酿20户停电
xīn shì lín xiǎo huò chē diào bì wèi shōu gōu diàn lǎn huǒ huā sì shè niàng 2 0 hù tíng diàn
New/Shilin: Small Truck's Crane Hook Snags Cable; Sparks Fly, Causing Power Outage for 20 Households
... Robot Phone 惊艳全场 机械臂镜头实测稳定度超越传统稳定器
. . . R o b o t P h o n e jīng yàn quán chǎng jī xiè bì jìng tóu shí cè wěn dìng dù chāo yuè chuán tǒng wěn dìng qì
... Robot Phone stunned the audience The measured stability of the robotic arm lens surpasses that of traditional stabilizers
机场六旬男工操作吊臂时从货板堕下 半昏迷送院
jī chǎng liù xún nán gōng cāo zuò diào bì shí cóng huò bǎn duò xià bàn hūn mí sòng yuàn
A male worker in his sixties at the airport fell from a cargo board while operating a boom and was sent to the hospital in a semi-unconscious manner
新春走军营 | 风雪66载 红臂绳映照巡边路
xīn chūn zǒu jūn yíng fēng xuě zài hóng bì shéng yìng zhào xún biān lù
New Year's walk to the barracks | 66 years of wind and snow, the red arm rope reflects the patrol road
他垂下手臂环绕住她然后亲吻。
Tā chuíxià shǒubì huánrào zhù tā ránhòu qīnwěn.
He slid his arms around her and kissed her.
汤姆用叉子戳我的手臂。
Tāngmǔ yòng chāzi chuō wǒ de shǒubì.
Tom stuck a fork in my arm.
放开我的手臂！我不能忍受有人碰我。
Fàngkāi wǒ de shǒubì! Wǒ bù néng rěnshòu yǒurén pèng wǒ.
Let go of my arm! I can't stand people touching me.
他伸长了手臂为了能拿到书。
Tā shēncháng le shǒubì wèile néng ná dào shū.
He stretched out his arm to take the book.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺼ (flesh) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 臂 (bì) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 臂 and 劈?
How many strokes does 臂 have?
What is the radical of 臂?
What are the components of 臂?
What are common words containing 臂?
What characters sound the same as 臂 (bì)?
Is 臂 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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