扭 (niǔ): to twist; to turn; to wrench

Meanings

1 to twist; to turn; to wrench
2 to sprain; to strain
3 to swing; to sway (hips)

Characters

扭

niǔ

to twist; to turn; to wrench

扌(hand) + 丑 (phonetic) - twisting by hand

Examples

他扭过头看了一眼。

Tā niǔ guòtóu kàn le yīyǎn.

He turned his head and took a look.

我不小心扭了脚。

Wǒ bù xiǎoxīn niǔ le jiǎo.

I accidentally sprained my ankle.

把瓶盖扭开。

Bǎ pínggài niǔ kāi.

Twist the bottle cap open.

她扭着腰跳起了舞。

Tā niǔ zhe yāo tiào qǐ le wǔ.

She swayed her hips and started dancing.

Tips

usage

扭伤 (niǔshāng) is the formal word for 'sprain.' 扭头 (niǔ tóu) means 'to turn one's head.' 扭转 (niǔzhuǎn) means 'to reverse/turn around (a situation).'

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side radical)

Three-stroke hand radical on the left - the side-form of 手. Marks 扭 as a hand-action, putting it in the family of 打 hit, 拉 pull, 推 push, 抓 grab. The radical pins the meaning to physical manipulation: twisting, wrenching, sprawling - all things a hand does to something it has hold of.

phonetic

丑 chǒu

second earthly branch; ugly

Right side 丑 supplies the sound (chǒu → niǔ, drift via earlier *n-/*tr- initials). 丑 itself originally pictured a hand with bent fingers grasping - pleasantly reinforcing 扭's wrenching meaning. Same phonetic appears in 纽 button, 钮 knob, 妞 girl - all niǔ-family characters.