DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

腦殼

简脑壳 · 繁腦殼

Mandarin · pinyin nǎo ké

(coll.) head; skull
(fig.) brains (mental capacity)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

腦: Look up this written character
殼: Look up this written character
脑: nǎo · brain
壳: ké · casing, shell, husk

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–2 · nao3 ke2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

腦殼 · find source passages ↗ · 脑壳 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

nou5 hok3

Cantonese word readings for 腦殼. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

(anatomy) braincase; cranium; skull
(dialectal) head
(Sichuanese) brains; mental capacity
(Sichuanese) hair (on the head)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack