挽 (wǎn) · to hold (someone's arm); to roll up (sleeves)

Meanings

1 to hold (someone's arm); to roll up (sleeves)
2 to pull; to draw (a bow)
3 to save; to retrieve

Characters

挽

wǎn

to hold; to roll up; to save

Examples

HSK 4

她挽着男朋友的胳膊。

Tā wǎn zhe nánpéngyou de gēbo.

She was holding her boyfriend's arm.

HSK 6

他挽起袖子开始干活。

Tā wǎn qǐ xiùzi kāishǐ gànhuó.

He rolled up his sleeves and started working.

Tips

usage

挽 is versatile: 挽着胳膊 (arm in arm), 挽起袖子 (roll up sleeves), 挽回 (salvage/retrieve), 挽留 (try to make someone stay). The common thread is pulling something toward you or keeping it close.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left hand radical, the side form of 手. It indexes 挽 in the action-with-hands family: 拉 pull, 推 push, 抓 grab, 提 lift. To 挽 is something you do with your hands - pulling back, rolling up, looping around. The radical commits the character to physical, manual action.

phonetic

免 miǎn

to avoid; exempt (here phonetic)

Right side 免 supplies the sound, miǎn → wǎn with m/w drift attested in the same series 晚 evening, 娩 give birth, 冕 crown. 免 itself depicts a person ducking under a helmet to escape danger; pair that 'pull back to safety' image with the hand radical and you get 挽: to draw back, retrieve, save.