Dictionary › 头

头

tóu

Old HSK 3 HSK 3.0 character level 2 Character Traditional 頭 Measure word 个

头 (tóu) means "head; hair style; the top". It is an HSK 3.0 level 2 word, and was HSK 3 in the old six-level list.

What 头 means

1. head
2. hair style
3. the top
4. end
5. beginning or end
6. a stub
7. remnant
8. chief
9. boss
10. side
11. aspect
12. first
13. leading
14. classifier for pigs or livestock

Other readings

头 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• tousuffix for nouns

Example sentences

• 没头绪。
  Méi tóuxù.
  Getting nowhere.
• 我头晕。
  Wǒ tóuyūn.
  I feel dizzy.
• 我头痛。
  I have a headache.
• 我头疼。
  I have a headache.
• 别回头。
  Don't look back.
• 回头看！
  Look back!

Words starting with 头

• 头发tóu fahair (on the head)
• 头上tóu shàngoverhead; above
• 头脑tóu nǎobrains; mind; skull
• 头顶tóu dǐngtop of the head
• 头衔tóu xiántitle; rank; appellation
• 头痛tóu tòngto have a headache
• 头疼tóu téngheadache
• 头部tóu bùhead
• 头像tóu xiàngportrait; bust; (computing) profile picture; avatar
• 头晕tóu yūndizzy
• 头儿tóu rleader
• 头皮tóu píscalp
• 头颅tóu lúhead; skull
• 头目tóu mùringleader; gang leader; chieftain
• 头条tóu tiáolead story (on the news)
• 头头tóu tóuhead; chief
• 头绪tóu xùoutline; main threads
• 头号tóu hàofirst rate; top rank; number one
• 头盔tóu kuīhelmet
• 头巾tóu jīncloth head covering worn by men in ancient times; headscarf (typically worn by women)…
• 头子tóu ziboss; gang leader
• 头等tóu děngfirst class; prime; main
• 头天tóu tiānyesterday; previous day; first day
• 头版tóu bǎn(newspaper's) front page

Words containing 头

• 石头shí toustone
• 点头diǎn tóuto nod
• 枕头zhěn toupillow
• 舌头shé toutongue; enemy soldier captured for the purpose of extracting information
• 馒头mán tousteamed bun
• 骨头gǔ toubone; moral character; bitterness
• 木头mù touwood; log; (fig.) blockhead; dolt
• 罐头guàn toutin; can
• 镜头jìng tóucamera lens; camera shot (in a movie etc); scene
• 码头mǎ touwharf; dock; quay; pier
• 拳头quán toufist; (of a product, service, project etc) flagship; key; core
• 口头kǒu tóuoral; verbal
• 水龙头shuǐ lóng tóufaucet; tap
• 劲头jìn tóuenthusiasm; zeal; vigor
• 回头huí tóuto turn round; to turn one's head; later; by and by
• 一头yī tóuone head; a head full of sth; one end (of a stick)
• 老头lǎo tóuold fellow; old man; father
• 抬头tái tóuto raise one's head; to look up; (fig.) to begin to emerge; to show signs of growth…
• 摇头yáo tóuto shake one's head
• 街头jiē tóustreet
• 念头niàn touthought; idea; intention
• 低头dī tóuto bow the head; to yield; to give in
• 心头xīn tóuone's heart; one's mind
• 丫头yā tougirl; servant girl; (used deprecatingly, but sometimes also as a term of endearment)

Characters that look like 头

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 关guānmountain pass; to close; to shut; to turn off; to confine; to lock (sb) up…
• 击jīto hit; to strike; to break
• 央yāngcenter; end; to beg
• 丢diūto lose; to put aside; to throw
• 壬rénninth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干; ninth in order…
• 劦lièunending exertion

Sounds the same

Read tóu, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 投to throw (sth in a specific direction: ball, javelin, grenade etc); to cast (a ballot)…
• 骰dice
• 亠"lid" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 8)
• 牏short board; plank

Where 头 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of HSK 3 Characters · Set 4 (HSK 3), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 3 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read tóu correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.