magtiris
magtirís with stress marks
to crush small bugs
From root: tiris
Conjugations
Past (Completed)
nagtiris
nag-ti-RIS
squashed
Present (Incomplete)
nagtitiris
nag-ti-ti-RIS
is squashing
Future (Contemplated)
magtitiris
mag-ti-ti-RIS
will squash
Usage Note
Magtiris is the actor-focus form of tiris, describing the very specific act of crushing small parasites — lice or fleas — between the thumbnails. It is tied to traditional Filipino communal grooming, where family members would pick through each other's hair, and carries a sense of domestic intimacy rooted in close-knit household life.
Examples
" Huwag kang magtiris ng kuto dito. "
Natural Translation
Don't crush lice here.
Literal Translation
Don't you to-crush-small-bugs of lice here.
" Bawal magtiris ng kuto gamit ang iyong mga kuko sa hapag-kainan. "
Natural Translation
It is forbidden to crush lice using your nails at the dining table.
Literal Translation
Forbidden to-crush-small-bugs of lice using the your nails at dining-table.
" Tuwing hapon, umuupo ang lola sa labas at tahimik na nagtitiris ng kuto sa buhok ng kaniyang mga apo. "
Natural Translation
Every afternoon, grandmother sits outside and quietly crushes the lice in her grandchildren's hair.
Literal Translation
Every afternoon, sits the grandmother at outside and quietly crushing-small-bugs of lice in hair of her grandchildren.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
How Tagalog words workWord family
tiris has 1 related form built from the same root.
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