拄 (zhǔ): to lean on (a stick, crutch)

Meanings

1 to lean on (a stick, crutch)
2 to prop oneself up with

Characters

拄

zhǔ

to lean on; to prop up

Examples

老人拄着拐杖慢慢地走。

Lǎorén zhǔ zhe guǎizhàng mànmàn de zǒu.

The old man walked slowly leaning on a cane.

她受伤后只能拄拐走路。

Tā shòushāng hòu zhǐnéng zhǔ guǎizǒu lù.

After her injury, she could only walk with crutches.

Tips

memory

The radical 扌(hand) + 主 (master) — your hand becomes the master of a cane, supporting your weight.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left raise-hand radical anchors 拄 in the manual-action family — here a planting motion, leaning one's weight on a stick or staff. The hand carries the active verb force: 拄拐 lean on a cane, 拄着伞 to lean on an umbrella.

phonetic

主 zhǔ

master; lamp (here phonetic)

Right 主 supplies the sound — zhǔ carried over without change. 主 originally depicted an oil-lamp flame on a stand, and that "standing upright" image dovetails with the meaning of leaning on a staff. Same phonetic family appears in 住 to live, 注 to pour, 柱 pillar.