zha bo

Singapore[ˌt͡s˭ɑː˨ ˈbɔː˦˨]

noun

Lady or woman.

Meanings

nounzha bo (plural zha bo or zha bos)

plural zha bos · alternative zha bor · alternative cha bo · alternative cha bor

  1. MalaysiaSingaporecolloquialLady or woman.

    And most of them call me "swee zha bo", pretty girl.

    2013 December 9, “Hawker Masters 2013: Secrets about famous ‘Bedok Camp’ Cheng Tng revealed”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 06 Mar 2016
    2 more examples

    They didn’t think my mum could take over, much less me, whom they referred to as Ang Yew Seng’s zha bor kia (Hokkien for daughter).

    2010 May 29, The Straits Times, “Old Times, New Blood”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 06 Feb 2015, page B18

    Bro, you see, the only thing common about the places you mentioned, all have Zha Bos, this is the entertainment sustaining the us today.

    2010 June 18, “Thai girls are boring after long time”, in SingThaiDisco, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2016

Origin

Borrowed from Hokkien 查某 (cha-bó͘, “woman, girl”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

zha bo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zha%20bo

MLA

“zha bo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zha%20bo. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zha bo,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zha%20bo.

Source: zha bo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.