勒 (lēi) · to strap tightly, to bind

Meanings

1 to strap tightly
2 to bind

Characters

勒

lēi

to strap tightly

Examples

HSK 5

把口袋勒紧，别让东西掉出来。

Bǎ kǒudai lēi jǐn, bié ràng dōngxi diào chūlái.

Strap the sack tight so nothing falls out.

HSK 6

书包带子勒得肩膀疼。

Shūbāo dàizi lēi de jiānbǎng téng.

The backpack straps are digging into my shoulders painfully.

HSK 7-9

腰带勒得太紧了，喘不过气。

Yāodài lēi de tài jǐn le, chuǎn bu guò qì.

The belt is strapped so tight I can't breathe.

Tips

register

The lēi reading is colloquial spoken Mandarin - used when a rope, belt, strap, or tie physically digs into something. Written/literary contexts and almost every compound take the sister reading lè instead (勒令, 勒索, 勾勒, 悬崖勒马). If the sentence describes a physical strap squeezing flesh, it is almost always lēi.

Components

radical

力 lì

strength; force

Right 力 - pictograph of a flexed arm or a plow muscled into the soil, meaning strength/force. Indexing radical here. Combined with 革 the picture is a leather strap pulled tight by force - exactly the rein-in / restrain / engrave senses of 勒.

semantic

革 gé

leather; hide

Left 革 - pictograph of a stretched animal hide (head, body, four limbs). The original 勒 meant a leather bridle for a horse, so the leather radical anchors the sense. Family: 鞋 (shoe), 鞍 (saddle), 鞭 (whip) - all leather goods. The leather strap is what does the restraining.