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勒

lè
verb HSK 7 #2,081

Meanings

  1. 1 to rein in
  2. 2 to strangle
  3. 3 to tighten

Examples

书包带子勒得肩膀疼。
Shūbāo dàizi lè de jiānbǎng téng.
The backpack straps are digging into my shoulders painfully.
悬崖勒马，还来得及。
Xuányá lè mǎ, hái láidejí.
Rein in the horse at the cliff's edge — there's still time.

Tips

usage
勒 has two pronunciations: lè (to rein in, to tighten) and lēi (to tie tightly in colloquial speech). The idiom 悬崖勒马 means to pull back from the brink.
memory
Think of a leather (革) strap with force (力) pulling tight — that's 勒.

Stroke Order

勒 lè