牙膏
yá gāo · HSK 7
toothpaste
🦷 牙膏 = 牙 tooth + 膏 paste/cream
牙 (yá) is tooth and 膏 (gāo) means a thick paste or cream; together they name the cream you put on teeth: toothpaste. Measure word 管 (guǎn) means a tube.
牙 — pictograph of interlocking molars/tusks
牙 originated as a pictograph of two interlocking teeth or animal tusks, showing the upper and lower jaws meshing together. Originally it referred specifically to molars or fangs (as opposed to 齒, the front teeth), and by extension came to mean tusks and ivory. In modern Chinese it is the general word for 'tooth.'