捩 (liè): (literary) to twist; to wrench…

Meanings

1 (literary) to twist; to wrench around
2 (literary) to snap off by bending

Characters

捩

liè

to twist; to wrench

Examples

转捩点就是转折点。

Zhuǎn liè diǎn jiùshì zhuǎnzhé diǎn.

A turning point is literally a place where things twist direction.

Tips

history

捩 is not a free word in modern Chinese; it survives bound in the literary 转捩点 (turning point), a more formal twin of 转折点. It is the hand radical 扌 plus the phonetic 戾.

register

Literary and bound only; everyday Chinese uses 扭转 for twisting.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand

扌 is the left-side hand radical, the action form of 手. It marks 捩 as a hand action — twisting or wrenching something.

phonetic

戾 lì

perverse; to violate (phonetic)

戾 gives the sound (lì drifted to liè) and adds a faint flavour of going against the grain — fitting for a forceful twist. It is a dog 犬 under a door 户.