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蹬

dēng
verb HSK 7-9 #12,144

Meanings

  1. 1 to pedal
  2. 2 to step on
  3. 3 to kick (with the foot)

Examples

他使劲蹬自行车上坡。
Tā shǐjìn dēng zìxíngchē shàngpō.
He pedaled hard to ride the bike uphill.
她蹬了他一脚。
Tā dēng le tā yī jiǎo.
She kicked him once.
蹬着梯子爬上去。
Dēng zhe tīzi pá shàngqù.
Step on the ladder and climb up.

Tips

usage
蹬 specifically means pushing with the foot or leg. Most commonly used for pedaling a bicycle (蹬自行车) or stepping on something to push off.
memory
The 足 (foot) radical tells you this is a foot action. Think of your foot pressing down on a pedal - 蹬!

Components

radical
足 zú
foot
Left foot radical - the indexing radical, anchoring 蹬 in the kicking/stepping family alongside 踩 (step on), 跑 (run), 跳 (jump), 踢 (kick). 足 originally depicted the whole leg, knee down to toes; here it tells you the action is done with the foot.
phonetic
登 dēng
to climb; ascend (here phonetic)
Right 登 supplies the sound directly - dēng with no drift - and adds a useful semantic echo, since climbing also involves pushing down with the foot. Same phonetic feeds 灯 (lamp), 凳 (stool, something you step up to), 瞪 (stare wide-eyed), all in the dēng/dèng family.

Stroke Order

蹬 dēng