铗 (jiá): (classical) tongs for handling…

Meanings

1 (classical) tongs for handling hot metal
2 (classical) a sword; the hilt of a sword

Characters

铗

jiá

fire-tongs; a sword (classical)

Examples

他弹着长剑唱道：「长剑，归来吧！」

Tā tán zhe cháng jiàn chàngdào ：「 chángjiàn, guīlái ba ！」

He tapped his long sword and sang, 'Long sword, let us go home!'

Tips

history

铗 is a classical word meaning fire-tongs, and by extension a sword or its hilt. It is not used independently in modern Chinese, which says 钳子 or 剑. It is famous from the Warring-States story of a retainer tapping his sword and singing 'long sword, let's go home'. Built on the metal radical 钅.

register

Classical and literary only. 铗 survives in old texts, not in everyday speech.