前妻 qián qī ex-wife / late wife syn 布什 bù shí Bush (name) / George H.W. Bush (1924-2018), US president 1988-1992 / George W. Bush (1946-), US President 2000-2008 转圈 轉圈 zhuàn quān to rotate / to twirl / to run around / to encircle / rotation / (coll.) to speak indirectly / to beat about the bush syn 兜圈子 dōu quān zi to encircle / to go around / to circle / to beat about the bush syn 灌木 guàn mù bush / shrub syn 拐弯抹角 拐彎抹角 guǎi wān mò jiǎo lit. going round the curves and skirting the corners (idiom) / fig. to speak in a roundabout way / to equivocate / to beat about the bush syn 绕圈子 繞圈子 rào quān zi to go around in circles / to make a detour / (fig.) to beat about the bush syn 搪塞 táng sè to muddle through / to fob sb off / to beat around the bush / to dodge syn 野火 yě huǒ wildfire / (spreading like) wildfire / bush fire / farm fire (for clearing fields) syn 家小 jiā xiǎo wife and children / wife syn 乔木 喬木 qiáo mù tree, esp. with recognizable trunk (as opposed to 灌木[guan4 mu4], bush or shrub) 巴豆 bā dòu croton (Croton tiglium), evergreen bush of Euphorbiaceae family 大戟科[da4 ji3 ke1] / croton seed, a strong purgative 舅母 jiù mǔ wife of mother's brother / aunt / maternal uncle's wife syn 贤内助 賢內助 xián nèi zhù (said of sb else's wife) a good wife syn 贤妻 賢妻 xián qī (old) perfect wife / you, my beloved wife 草木皆兵 cǎo mù jiē bīng lit. every tree or bush an enemy soldier (idiom) / fig. to panic and treat everyone as an enemy / to feel beleaguered syn 正室 zhèng shì primary wife (in contrast to concubine) / legal wife 楚 chǔ distinct / clear / orderly / pain / suffering / deciduous bush used in Chinese medicine (genus Vitex) / punishment cane (old) 绕弯子 繞彎子 rào wān zi lit. to go on a long detour / fig. to speak vaguely around the topic without getting to the point / to beat about the bush syn 矮树 矮樹 ǎi shù short tree / bush / shrub 孙媳妇 孫媳婦 sūn xí fu son's son's wife / grandson's wife syn 打开天窗说亮话 打開天窗說亮話 dǎ kāi tiān chuāng shuō liàng huà (let's) not mince words / (let's) not beat about the bush syn 做 zuò to make / to produce / to write / to compose / to do / to engage in / to hold (a party etc) / (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc) / to become (husband and wife, friends etc) / (of a thing) to serve as / to be used for / to assume (an air or manner) syn 女人 nǚ ren wife syn 妻子 qī zi wife syn 太太 tài tai married woman / Mrs. / Madam / wife / CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] syn 老婆 lǎo pó (coll.) wife syn 夫妇 夫婦 fū fù a (married) couple / husband and wife / CL:對|对[dui4] syn 配合 pèi hé matching / fitting in with / compatible with / to correspond / to fit / to conform to / rapport / to coordinate with / to act in concert with / to cooperate / to become man and wife / to combine parts of machine syn 夫妻 fū qī husband and wife / married couple syn 上门 上門 shàng mén to drop in / to visit / to lock a door / (of a shop) to close / to go and live with one's wife's family, in effect becoming a member of her family syn 分居 fēn jū to separate (married couple) / to live apart (of husband and wife, family members) 外甥 wài shēng sister's son / wife's sibling's son syn 婶婶 嬸嬸 shěn shen wife of father's younger brother / aunt syn 岳父 yuè fù wife's father, father-in-law syn 大妈 大媽 dà mā father's elder brother's wife / aunt (affectionate term for an elderly woman) syn 口子 kǒu zi hole / opening / cut / gap / gash / my husband or wife / classifier for people (used for indicating the number of people in a family etc) / precedent syn 岳母 yuè mǔ wife's mother, mother-in-law syn 嫂子 sǎo zi (coll.) older brother's wife / sister-in-law syn 老板娘 lǎo bǎn niáng female proprietor / lady boss / boss's wife syn 伯母 bó mǔ wife of father's elder brother / aunt / (polite form of address for a woman who is about the age of one's mother) / CL:個|个[ge4] syn 媳妇 媳婦 xí fù daughter-in-law / wife of a younger brother or relative of the younger generation syn 家室 jiā shì wife / family / (literary) residence syn 老伴 lǎo bàn (of an elderly couple) husband or wife syn 娘子 孃子 niáng zǐ (dialect) form of address for one's wife / polite form of address for a woman syn 大嫂 dà sǎo older brother's wife / sister-in-law / elder sister (respectful appellation for an older married woman) syn 外甥女 wài sheng nǚ sister's daughter / wife's sibling's daughter syn 小舅子 xiǎo jiù zi (coll.) wife's younger brother syn 弟妹 dì mèi younger sibling / younger brother's wife syn 娘儿们 娘兒們 niáng r men (dialect) woman / wife syn 小姨子 xiǎo yí zi (coll.) wife's younger sister / sister-in-law (term not used to directly address her) 舅妈 舅媽 jiù mā (coll.) aunt / maternal uncle's wife syn 丈母娘 zhàng mǔ niáng wife's mother / mother-in-law syn 两口子 兩口子 liǎng kǒu zi husband and wife syn 迎娶 yíng qǔ (of a groom) to fetch one's bride from her parents' home to escort her to the wedding ceremony / (fig.) to take as one's wife / to marry (a woman) syn 大娘 dà niáng (coll.) father's older brother's wife / aunt (polite address) syn 眷属 眷屬 juàn shǔ family member / husband and wife syn 姑爷 姑爺 gū ye son-in-law (used by wife's family) / uncle (husband of father's sister) syn 妻室 qī shì wife syn 军嫂 軍嫂 jūn sǎo serviceman's wife / wives of military personnel 嫂嫂 sǎo sao older brother's wife / sister-in-law / (polite address to a younger married woman) sister syn 贵贱 貴賤 guì jiàn noble and lowly / high versus low social hierarchy of ruler to people, father to son, husband to wife in Confucianism 家眷 jiā juàn one's wife and children syn 大舅子 dà jiù zi (coll.) wife's older brother syn 弟媳 dì xí younger brother's wife / sister-in-law syn 娶亲 娶親 qǔ qīn to take a wife syn 婶子 嬸子 shěn zi (coll.) father's younger brother's wife / aunt syn 伉俪 伉儷 kàng lì husband and wife (literary) syn 安人 ān rén to pacify the people / landlady (old) / wife of 員外|员外[yuan2 wai4], landlord 正房 zhèng fáng central building (in a traditional house) / primary wife syn 裙带 裙帶 qún dài waistband of a skirt / (fig.) related to the wife or another female family member 内弟 內弟 nèi dì wife's younger brother syn 江青 jiāng qīng Jiang Qing (1914-1991), Mao Zedong's fourth wife and leader of the Gang of Four 少奶奶 shào nǎi nai young lady of the house / wife of the young master syn 冷宫 冷宮 lěng gōng (in literature and opera) a place to which a monarch banishes a wife or concubine who falls from favor / (fig.) the doghouse / a state of disfavor 合葬 hé zàng to bury husband and wife together / joint interment 贤慧 賢慧 xián huì (of a wife) wise and kind / perfect in her traditional roles 入赘 入贅 rù zhuì to go and live with one's wife's family, in effect becoming a member of her family syn 妻子 qī zǐ wife and children syn 双飞 雙飛 shuāng fēi flying in pairs / close union as husband and wife / round-trip flight / (slang) threesome 二奶 èr nǎi mistress / second wife / lover syn 娶妻 qǔ qī to take a wife / to get married (man) 妻儿 妻兒 qī ér wife and child syn 扶正 fú zhèng to set sth upright or straight / to promote an employee from part-time to full-time (or from deputy to principal) / (old) to raise from concubine to wife status 小姨 xiǎo yí mother's youngest sister / wife's younger sister / sister-in-law 招亲 招親 zhāo qīn to invite the groom (who will live with the bride's family) / to take a wife by one's own choice syn 师母 師母 shī mǔ term of respect for a teacher's wife syn 宋庆龄 宋慶齡 sòng qìng líng Song Qingling (1893-1981), second wife of Sun Yat-sen 孫中山|孙中山[Sun1 Zhong1 shan1], influential political figure in China after Sun's death in 1925 福晋 福晉 fú jìn in Qing dynasty, Manchurian word for wife 贤妻良母 賢妻良母 xián qī liáng mǔ a good wife and loving mother 宋美龄 宋美齡 sòng měi líng Soong Mei-ling (1898-2003), Chiang Kai-shek's second wife 怕老婆 pà lǎo pó henpecked / to be under one's wife's thumb 换妻 換妻 huàn qī wife swapping 娶媳妇 娶媳婦 qǔ xí fù to get oneself a wife / to take a daughter-in-law 丈人 zhàng rén wife's father (father-in-law) / old man syn 邓颖超 鄧穎超 dèng yǐng chāo Deng Yingchao (1904-1992), Chinese communist leader, wife of Zhou Enlai 周恩來|周恩来 相夫教子 xiàng fū jiào zǐ to assist one's husband and educate the children (idiom) / the traditional roles of a good wife 岳家 yuè jiā wife's parents' home syn 表嫂 biǎo sǎo wife of older male cousin via female line 