瞄 (miáo): to aim (a weapon); to take aim;…

Meanings

1 to aim (a weapon); to take aim; to glance at; to peek

Characters

瞄

miáo

to aim; to glance

Examples

他瞄准了靶子开枪。

Tā miáozhǔn le bǎzi kāiqiāng.

He aimed at the target and fired.

她偷偷瞄了他一眼。

Tā tōutōu miáo le tā yīyǎn.

She secretly glanced at him.

狙击手正在瞄准敌人。

Jūjīshǒu zhèngzài miáozhǔn dírén.

The sniper is taking aim at the enemy.

Tips

usage

瞄 has two main uses: 瞄准 (miáozhǔn) means 'to aim at' (a weapon). Informally, 瞄一眼 (miáo yī yǎn) means 'to take a quick glance' or 'to peek.' The casual sense is common in spoken Chinese.

Components

radical

目 mù

eye

Left eye radical — pictograph of an eye on its side, pupil and lid lines stacked vertically when used as a component. 瞄 means to aim or fix one's gaze, so the eye is the operative organ. Same family: 看 look, 眼 eye, 盯 stare, 瞧 glance.

phonetic

苗 miáo

seedling; sprout (phonetic)

Right 苗 supplies the sound miáo with no shift — a clean phonetic. 苗 depicts grass (艹) sprouting from a field (田), hence 'seedling.' Pure phonetic in 瞄 — focusing on a tiny sprout in a field makes a fine mnemonic for narrowing one's eyes on a small target.