chóng
大虫
insect; worm; tiger (dialect)
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
2 senses · 5 examplesnoun
insect; bug; worm
The standard, primary meaning. Used for small invertebrate animals like ants, flies, and worms.
Huā花
yuán园
lǐ里
yǒu有
hěn很
duō多
xiǎo小
chóng虫
。
There are many small insects in the garden.
Zhè这
běn本
shū书
jiǎng讲
de的
shì是
máo毛
mao毛
chóng虫
rú如
hé何
biàn变
chéng成
hú蝴
dié蝶
。
This book is about how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
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Wǒ我
pà怕
chóng虫
zi子
。
I'm afraid of bugs.
noun
tiger (dialectal)
dialectA dialectal usage, particularly noted in phrases like "大虫". It is an example of a historical euphemism or taboo term, where people avoided directly saying "tiger" and used another word instead.
（
fāng方
yán言
）
shān山
lǐ里
yǒu有
dà大
chóng虫
，
wǎn晚
shang上
mò莫
chū出
qù去
。
(Dialect) There are tigers in the mountains, don't go out at night.
Wǔ武
Sōng松
dǎ打
hǔ虎
de的
gù故
shi事
lǐ里
，
lǎo老
hǔ虎
yě也
jiào叫
dà大
chóng虫
。
In the story of Wu Song fighting the tiger, the tiger is also called 'big insect'.