捺 (nà): to press down firmly

Meanings

1 to press down firmly
2 to restrain; to suppress
3 right-falling stroke (in Chinese characters)

Characters

捺

nà

to press down firmly

Examples

他在合同上捺了手印。

Tā zài hétong shàng nà le shǒuyìn.

He pressed his fingerprint onto the contract.

她按捺不住内心的激动。

Tā ànnà bùzhù nèixīn de jīdòng.

She could not hold back her excitement.

Tips

culture

In calligraphy, 捺 names the right-falling diagonal stroke (the one ending the character 大). The figurative sense 'to press down / hold back' survives mostly in 按捺 (to restrain).

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand

Left 扌 is the hand radical 手 in left-side form. It marks this as a hand action — pressing something down with the fingers.

phonetic

奈 nài

how; phonetic

Right 奈 supplies the sound (nài drifting to nà). It also appears as the phonetic in 捺's near-homophone family, sharing the 示 base.

Stroke Order

捺 nà

Related Words

按捺不住 ànnà-bùzhù #47,701

unable to hold back (idiom) / can't suppress (an emotion or impulse) / unable to contain oneself

倒下 dǎoxià HSK 7-9 #4,263

to fall down / to collapse / to be struck down

打倒 dǎdǎo HSK 7-9 #5,212

to overthrow / to knock down / down with

关闭 guānbì HSK 4 #2,087

to close; to shut / to shut down; to close down

忽高忽低 hūgāo-hūdī HSK 7-9

fluctuating / rising and falling / up and down

跪下 guìxià #4,909

to kneel down / to get on one's knees

倒数 dàoshǔ HSK 7-9 #4,209

to count backwards; to count down / inverse number; reciprocal (math)

催 cuī HSK 7-9 #5,240

to urge / to press / to rush (someone)

得了 déle HSK 5 #3,922

that's enough!; all right! / come on! (expressing impatience or dismissal)

出版 chūbǎn HSK 5 #3,577

to publish / to come off the press