磕 (kē): to bump

Meanings

1 to bump
2 to knock
3 to crack (a seed) with one's teeth

Characters

磕

kē

to bump; to knock

Examples

HSK 2

小心，别磕着头。

Xiǎoxīn, bié kē zhe tóu.

Be careful, don't bump your head.

HSK 2

他不小心磕到了桌子。

Tā bù xiǎoxīn kē dào le zhuōzi.

He accidentally bumped into the table.

HSK 7-9

她喜欢磕瓜子。

Tā xǐhuan kē guāzǐ.

She likes cracking sunflower seeds.

Tips

usage

磕 is commonly used in 磕瓜子 (cracking sunflower seeds with teeth) and 磕头 (kowtow - knocking one's head on the ground).

memory

The stone radical 石 on the left suggests something hard - bumping or knocking against a hard surface.

Components

radical

石 shí

stone (radical)

Left stone radical - the indexing radical, depicting a rock under a cliff overhang. Marks 磕 as an action involving something hard: the original image is stone-on-stone or head-on-stone. Same radical fronts 砍 chop, 破 break, 碰 bump, 砸 smash - the impact-verb family.

phonetic

盍 hé

covered vessel (phonetic)

Right side 盍 supplies the sound - hé drifted to kē through regular guttural alternation, the same pattern producing 嗑 to crack open and 瞌 to nod off. 盍 itself depicts a covered ceremonial dish; the lid imagery is incidental - the role is purely sound.