辗 (zhǎn): to roll over

Meanings

1 to roll over
2 to crush by rolling
3 to toss and turn

Characters

辗

zhǎn

to roll / to toss and turn

Examples

他辗转反侧，久久无法入睡。

Tā zhǎnzhuǎn-fǎncè, jiǔjiǔ wúfǎ rùshuì.

He tossed and turned for a long time, unable to fall asleep.

消息辗转传到了她的耳中。

Xiāoxi zhǎnzhuǎn chuándào le tā de ěr zhōng.

The news reached her ears through a roundabout route.

Tips

usage

辗 is most commonly encountered in the compound 辗转, which means to toss and turn (in bed) or to pass through many hands/stages. It rarely appears alone outside of classical or literary contexts.

Components

radical

车 chē

cart; vehicle

Left cart radical - a top-down sketch of a cart with axle and wheels, simplified from 車. Indexes 辗 in the vehicle family with 轮 wheel, 轨 track, 转 to turn. It means to roll or grind under a heavy wheel, so the cart radical names the source of the crushing motion.

phonetic

展 zhǎn

to unfold; to spread out

Right side 展 supplies the sound zhǎn without shift, and quietly reinforces meaning: 展 already means to unfurl or spread, and a wheel rolling over something flattens and spreads it out. 辗转 means to toss and turn - repeated rolling motion - picking up both senses cleanly.