Definition
大虫 is a historical and dialectal term for 'tiger', most famously used in the classic novel 水浒传 (Water Margin) to refer to the tiger fought by 武松. In standard modern Mandarin, the usual word is 老虎 (lǎo hǔ). You may encounter 大虫 in regional dialects (esp. some parts of southern China), in classical literary works, or in expressions borrowed from folklore. It is not used in everyday speech for modern contexts.
n.
tiger (dialectal or historical term)
Examples
- 大虫。Wǔ Sōng zài Jǐngyánggāng shàng dǎ sǐ le yì zhī dà chóng.Wu Song killed a tiger on Jingyang Ridge.
- ，大虫。Zài wǒmen lǎojiā de fāngyán lǐ, lǎohǔ jiào dà chóng.In the dialect of my hometown, tigers are called dàchóng.
- 大虫。Zhè běn lìshǐ xiǎoshuō lǐ de dà chóng qíshí shì lǎohǔ de jiùchēng.The 'dàchóng' in this historical novel is actually an old name for tiger.
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