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抿

mǐn
verb #31,424

Meanings

  1. 1 to sip (a small amount of liquid)
  2. 2 to press (lips) lightly together
  3. 3 to smooth (hair) with a wet brush

Examples

HSK 2
他抿着嘴笑，什么也不说。
Tā mǐn zhe zuǐ xiào, shénme yě bù shuō.
He smiled with pursed lips and said nothing.
HSK 2
出门前她抿了抿头发。
Chūmén qián tā mǐn le mǐn tóufa.
Before going out, she smoothed her hair down.
HSK 3
她抿了一口红酒。
Tā mǐn le yì kǒu hóngjiǔ.
She took a small sip of red wine.

Tips

memory
抿 = 扌 (hand) + 民 (people, phonetic mín). Picture a small, polite hand action: a delicate sip, a barely-parted smile, a quick smoothing of hair. Always something gentle and minimal - not a gulp, not a grin, not a brushing.
usage
抿一口 is the classic collocation for tasting wine, tea, or coffee. 抿嘴 means to press lips together - often translated as 'pursed lips' to convey shyness, restraint, or a small smile.

Components

radical
扌 shǒu
hand (radical form of 手)
Side-hand radical on the left - compressed form of 手. Indexes 抿 in the manual-action family with 拉, 抓, 摸. 抿 means to press or purse the lips, or to smooth hair with a wet brush - both are small, controlled hand gestures, so the radical anchors the meaning.
phonetic
民 mín
people; populace
Right side 民 supplies the sound mín exactly. Same phonetic in 泯 to perish, 岷 mountain name, 珉 jade-like stone. 民 contributes no semantic flavour to the pursing/smoothing action; it is a pure sound peg loaned for its convenient rhyme.

Stroke Order

抿 mǐn