摁 (èn): to press (with a finger or hand)

Meanings

1 to press (with a finger or hand)
2 to push down

Characters

摁

èn

to press down with the hand

Examples

HSK 4

摁一下这个按钮。

Èn yīxià zhège ànniǔ.

Press this button.

HSK 7-9

他用力摁住伤口止血。

Tā yònglì èn zhù shāngkǒu zhǐxuè.

He pressed hard on the wound to stop the bleeding.

Tips

usage

摁 is colloquial and emphasizes physical pressing with the hand or finger. More formal/neutral alternatives are 按 (àn) or 压 (yā). Common in spoken Chinese, especially in northern dialects.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left hand radical - side-form of 手 (Kangxi #64). Anchors 摁 in the hand-action family. 摁 is specifically the verb for pressing down with a finger or thumb - pushing a doorbell, a touchscreen, a stamp onto paper. Sister verbs: 按 (press), 推 (push), 摸 (touch), 戳 (poke). The radical declares 'something the hand does' immediately.

phonetic

恩 ēn

kindness; grace (here phonetic)

Right 恩 supplies the sound - ēn shifted to èn, only tone differs. 恩 itself stacks 因 (cause) over 心 (heart) for 'cause-of-heart, kindness'; here the meaning doesn't carry. Pure phonetic. 摁 is mostly colloquial and modern, much rarer than its near-synonym 按, but distinguished by being specifically finger-pressing. 摁门铃 'press the doorbell' is the classic example.