交臂

jiāobì
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to link arms
  2. 2 arm in arm
  3. 3 to brush past (someone) closely

Examples

Tāmen jiāobì zǒu zài gōngyuán lǐ.
They walked arm in arm through the park.
Wǒmen céng jiāobì ér guò, què méi rènchū duìfāng.
We once brushed past each other but didn't recognize one another.

Tips

usage
Most often seen in the set phrase 失之交臂 (shīzhī-jiāobì) — 'to miss by a hair', literally 'to lose it as arms cross'. The image is two people passing close enough to touch but failing to connect.

Stroke Order

jiāo