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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

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

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 (mǐn yì kǒu) 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