piē
verb #14,216

Meanings

  1. 1 to glance at
  2. 2 to catch a glimpse of

Examples

HSK 3
Tā piē le tā yī yǎn jiù zǒu le.
She glanced at him and left.
HSK 4
Wǒ piējiàn zhuō shàng yǒu yī fēng xìn.
I caught a glimpse of a letter on the table.

Tips

usage
implies a very quick, brief look. Often used as 瞥了一眼 (glanced once) or 瞥见 (caught sight of).
memory
The top part (ragged) over (eye) - a ragged, quick look with your eye.

Components

radical
eye
underneath is the eye radical and locks the meaning down: is something the eye does, specifically a quick darted glance. It groups with (look), (peep), and (aim a glance), the family of seeing verbs.
phonetic
worn; tattered
sits on top and supplies the reading, shifting from bì to piē in the same labial cluster. The same phonetic appears in (cover) and (defect), and adds a flavor of something fleeting and imperfect - fitting for the brief glance names.

Stroke Order

piē