攥

zuàn
verb #20,712

Meanings

  1. 1 to grip tightly
  2. 2 to clench
  3. 3 to hold fast

Examples

HSK 5
Tā jǐnjǐn zuàn zhù tā de shǒu.
He gripped her hand tightly.
HSK 7-9
Tā zuàn zhe quántou, yāyì zhe fènnù.
She clenched her fist, suppressing her anger.

Tips

register
攥 is a colloquial northern Chinese term, especially common in Beijing Mandarin. The standard written equivalent is 握 (to grip) or 抓 (to grasp).

Components

radical
扌 shǒu
hand (radical form of 手)
Left-side hand radical, the 3-stroke compressed form of 手. Indexing radical, putting 攥 in the family of hand actions (打 hit, 拉 pull, 抓 grab, 握 grip). Announces that the right side names a specific way of doing something with the hand; here, clenching tight into a fist.
phonetic
纂 zuǎn
compile; gather
Right 纂 supplies the sound, zuǎn shifting to zuàn with tone change, regular for verbal derivatives. 纂 itself means 'to compile, gather into one bundle,' which dovetails neatly with the meaning of 攥: to gather the fingers together into a single tight grip. 攥 is colloquial Beijing speech, often heard in 攥拳头 'clench a fist.'

Stroke Order

攥 zuàn