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捋

lǚ
verb #33,080

Meanings

  1. 1 to stroke; to smooth with the fingers (e.g. a beard, a thread)
  2. 2 to pluck off with the fingers (alternate reading luō)
  3. 3 (figurative) to sort out; to think through

Examples

老先生捋着胡子，慢慢地说。
Lǎo xiānsheng lǚ zhe húzi, mànman de shuō.
The old gentleman stroked his beard and spoke slowly.
我先捋一下思路。
Wǒ xiān lǚ yīxià sīlù.
Let me first sort out my train of thought.
她捋起袖子准备下厨。
Tā lǚ qǐ xiùzi zhǔnbèi xià chú.
She rolled up her sleeves to start cooking.

Tips

mistakes
捋 has two readings with two distinct meanings: lǚ = 'to stroke / smooth along its length' (stroke a beard, roll up sleeves, sort out thoughts); luō = 'to grab and pull along the length' (strip leaves off a branch, pluck a fistful of seeds). Same gesture mostly, but luō implies harvesting force. Modern speech leans on lǚ; luō survives mainly in dialect and set phrases.
memory
Picture 扌 (hand) + 寽 — and 寽 itself is an oracle-bone drawing of fingers picking something off. The whole character is literally 'hand-picking-fingers': run your fingers down a length of something.

Stroke Order

捋 lǚ