蹑 (niè): to walk on tiptoe

Meanings

1 to walk on tiptoe
2 to tread softly
3 to follow stealthily

Characters

蹑

niè

to tiptoe

Examples

她蹑手蹑脚地走进房间，怕吵醒婴儿。

Tā nièshǒunièjiǎo de zǒujìn fángjiān, pà chǎoxǐng yīng'ér.

She tiptoed into the room, afraid of waking the baby.

侦探悄悄蹑着嫌疑人的踪迹。

Zhēntàn qiāoqiāo niè zhe xiányírén de zōngjì.

The detective quietly followed the suspect's trail.

Tips

usage

Most commonly seen in the set phrase 蹑手蹑脚 (蹑手蹑脚, 'to tiptoe / move stealthily'), describing creeping movement that avoids making noise.

memory

足 (foot) + the whispering-quiet feel of 聂 (聂, three ears leaning in to listen): feet moving so quietly that ears must strain to hear them — tiptoeing.

Components

radical

足 zú

foot

足 is the foot radical, marking this as a word about how one moves the feet — here, quietly and on tiptoe.

phonetic

聂 niè

to whisper; phonetic

聂 (three 'ear' shapes, originally 'to whisper close to the ear') gives the sound niè and faintly reinforces the hushed, quiet feel of moving stealthily.