胳 (gē): armpit
胳 (gē) is a Chinese character meaning “armpit.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺼ (semantic) and 各 (phonetic). It ranks #2405 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 胳 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
- armpit
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 胳 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 胳
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 胳膊肘 | gē bo zhǒu | elbow |
| 胳臂 | gē bei | arm |
| 胳肢 | gé zhi | (dialect) to tickle |
| 胳肢窝 | gā zhi wō | armpit |
| 胳膊拧不过大腿 | gē bo nǐng bu guò dà tuǐ | (idiom) the weak cannot overcome the strong |
| 胳臂箍儿 | gē bei gū r | armband |
| 胳臂肘儿 | gē bei zhǒu r | elbow |
| 胳膊肘往外拐 | gē bo zhǒu wǎng wài guǎi | see 胳膊肘朝外拐[ge1 bo5 zhou3 chao2 wai4 guai3] |
| 胳膊肘朝外拐 | gē bo zhǒu cháo wài guǎi | lit. the elbow turns outward (idiom) |
| 胳膊肘子 | gē bo zhǒu zi | see 胳膊肘[ge1 bo5 zhou3] |
| 捋胳膊 | luō gē bo | to push up one's sleeves |
胳 appears in 12 compound words: 92 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 8 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 胳 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
胳字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
gē zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character "胳" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
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
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 胳 (gē) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 胳 and 略?
How many strokes does 胳 have?
What is the radical of 胳?
What are the components of 胳?
What are common words containing 胳?
What characters sound the same as 胳 (gē)?
Is 胳 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 胳 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.