扭 (niǔ): to twist; to turn; to wrench

Meanings

1 to twist; to turn; to wrench
2 to sprain; to strain
3 to swing; to sway (hips)

Characters

扭

niǔ

to twist; to turn; to wrench

扌(hand) + 丑 (phonetic) - twisting by hand

Examples

HSK 2

我不小心扭了脚。

Wǒ bù xiǎoxīn niǔ le jiǎo.

I accidentally sprained my ankle.

HSK 5

她扭着腰跳起了舞。

Tā niǔ zhe yāo tiào qǐ le wǔ.

She swayed her hips and started dancing.

HSK 7-9

他扭过头看了一眼。

Tā niǔ guòtóu kàn le yīyǎn.

He turned his head and took a look.

Tips

usage

扭伤 (niǔshāng) is the formal word for 'sprain.' 扭头 (niǔ tóu) means 'to turn one's head.' 扭转 (niǔzhuǎn) means 'to reverse/turn around (a situation).'

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side radical)

Three-stroke hand radical on the left - the side-form of 手. Marks 扭 as a hand-action, putting it in the family of 打 hit, 拉 pull, 推 push, 抓 grab. The radical pins the meaning to physical manipulation: twisting, wrenching, sprawling - all things a hand does to something it has hold of.

phonetic

丑 chǒu

second earthly branch; ugly

Right side 丑 supplies the sound (chǒu → niǔ, drift via earlier *n-/*tr- initials). 丑 itself originally pictured a hand with bent fingers grasping - pleasantly reinforcing 扭's wrenching meaning. Same phonetic appears in 纽 button, 钮 knob, 妞 girl - all niǔ-family characters.