腰 yāo waist
waist; lower back; pocket
怎么记住“腰”: 月 meat + 要 to want = waist. Grandpa lifts a heavy box of meat for the barbecue because he does not want help, and now he groans, holding his waist.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
腰 = 月 meat + 要 to want
- 月 meat meaning
- 要 to want sound
- 覀 west
- 女 woman
Grandpa lifts a heavy box of meat for the barbecue because he does not want help, and now he groans, holding his waist.
How it came to be
The flesh gives the meaning and the right part the sound.
用法
- 腰 means 'waist/lower back' and can stand alone in body-part contexts: 我腰疼 (wǒ yāo téng). My lower back hurts.
- It also extends to 'the middle' of long objects, e.g. 山腰 (shānyāo): halfway up a mountain.
- 掏腰包 tāoyāobāo is a colorful idiom meaning 'to pay out of one's own pocket,' literally 'to dig into the waist-pouch': spoken and slightly playful.