膊 (bó): shoulder, upper arm
膊 (bó) is a Chinese character meaning “shoulder.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺼ (semantic) and 尃 (phonetic). It ranks #2361 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 膊 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
- shoulder
- upper arm
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 膊
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 胳膊肘noun | gē bo zhǒu | elbow |
| 赤膊verb | chì bó | bare to the waist |
| 赤膊上阵phrase | chì bó shàng zhèn | lit. to go into battle bare-breasted (idiom) |
| 胳膊拧不过大腿 | gē bo nǐng bu guò dà tuǐ | (idiom) the weak cannot overcome the strong |
| 打赤膊verb | dǎ chì bó | to bare one's chest |
| 胳膊肘往外拐phrase | gē bo zhǒu wǎng wài guǎi | see 胳膊肘朝外拐 |
| 胳膊肘朝外拐phrase | gē bo zhǒu cháo wài guǎi | lit. the elbow turns outward (idiom) |
| 胳膊肘子noun | gē bo zhǒu zi | see 胳膊肘 |
| 肩膊noun | jiān bó | shoulder |
| 搭膊 | dā bó | shoulder bag |
| 臂膊noun | bì bó | arm |
| 袒膊 | tǎn bó | to strip to the waist |
| 捋胳膊 | luō gē bo | to push up one's sleeves |
膊 appears in 14 compound words: 0 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 43 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 膊 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Showing 1 of 2 idioms containing 膊.
Example Sentences
他卷起袖子，露出结实的手臂。
Tā juǎn qǐ xiùzi, lùchū jiēshi de shǒubì.
He rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong arms.
巧合的是，剧中恰好有胳膊受伤的戏，真伤与戏伤重叠，那一场他演得格外顺畅。
qiǎo gě de shì , jù zhōng qià hǎo yǒu gē bó shòu shāng de xì , zhēn shāng yǔ xì shāng chóng dié , nà yī chǎng tā yǎn dé gé wài shùn chàng .
Coincidentally, there was a scene in the play where his arm was injured, and as his real injury overlapped with the one in the script, he performed that scene exceptionally well.
视频里人类小哥 2 秒钟就把杯子拿起来了，机器人的铁胳膊可能需要 5 秒。
shì pín lǐ rén lèi xiǎo gē 2 miǎo zhōng jiù bǎ bēi zǐ ná qǐ lái le , jī qì rén de tiě gē bó kě néng xū yāo 5 miǎo .
In the video, the guy picks up the cup in 2 seconds, while the robot's metal arm might take 5 seconds.
由你控制注意力慢慢在身体的路径中，去感受自己的头、胳膊、肚子、屁股等等。
yóu nǐ kòng zhì zhù yì lì màn màn zài shēn tǐ de lù jìng zhōng , qù gǎn shòu zì jǐ de tóu , gē bó , dù zǐ , pì gǔ děng děng .
Guide your attention along the pathways of your body, slowly sensing your head, arms, stomach, buttocks, and so on.
警察抓著小偷的胳膊。
Jǐngchá zhuā zhe xiǎotōu de gēbo.
The policeman grabbed the robber's arm.
我看见他们胳膊挽着胳膊地走路。
Wǒ kànjiàn tāmen gēbo wǎn zhe gēbo de zǒulù.
I saw them walking arm in arm.
汤姆碰了我的胳膊肘。
Tāngmǔ pèng le wǒ de gēbozhǒu.
Tom touched my elbow.
另一个抓住他的胳膊。
Lìngyī gè zhuāzhù tā de gēbo.
The other grasped his arm.
他只要一动, 伤口就连带整个胳膊都疼。
Tā zhǐyào yī dòng, shāngkǒu jiù liándài zhěnggè gēbo dōu téng.
Whenever he moved, the wound sent pains all along his arm.
他把身子靠在胳膊上。
Tā bǎ shēnzi kào zài gēbo shàng.
He leaned on his elbows.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺼ (flesh) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 膊 (bó) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 膊 and 缚?
How many strokes does 膊 have?
What is the radical of 膊?
What are the components of 膊?
What are common words containing 膊?
What characters sound the same as 膊 (bó)?
Is 膊 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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