拴 (shuān) · to tie; to fasten; to tether

Meanings

1 to tie; to fasten; to tether

Characters

拴

shuān

to tie; to fasten

Examples

HSK 3

把马拴在树上。

Bǎ mǎ shuān zài shùshàng.

Tie the horse to the tree.

HSK 3

他把狗拴在门口。

Tā bǎ gǒu shuān zài ménkǒu.

He tied the dog at the doorway.

Tips

usage

拴 specifically means tying something with a rope or leash to keep it in place - animals, boats, etc. Compare with 绑 (bǎng, to bind tightly) and 系 (jì, to fasten/tie a knot). 拴 implies the thing can still move within range.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left-side hand radical - the 3-stroke compressed form of 手. Indexing radical, putting 拴 in the family of binding hand-actions (绑 tie, 系 fasten, 扣 buckle, 缠 wind). Carries the core meaning: 拴 names the act of tying something to a fixed point with rope, especially livestock to a post.

phonetic

全 quán

whole; complete

Right 全 supplies the sound - quán drifting to shuān via the regular k-/sh- alternation that affected some palatal initials in this series. The 'whole / complete' meaning of 全 (人 over 玉 = perfect jade) doesn't enter; it is a sound-tag. 拴 survives in 拴马 tie up a horse, 拴住心 (idiom) to hold someone's heart fast.