bàn
verb #10,539

Meanings

  1. 1 to trip
  2. 2 to stumble
  3. 3 to hinder

Examples

Tā bèi shítou bàn le yīxià.
He tripped on a stone.
Bié ràng xiǎoshì bàn zhù nǐ de jiǎobù.
Don't let small things hold you back.

Tips

usage
绊倒 (bàndǎo) means 'to trip and fall'. 绊脚石 (bànjiǎoshí) is a stumbling block, used figuratively for obstacles.

Components

radical
silk; thread (radical form of 糸)
Left silk-thread radical (side form of ) puts in the cord/binding family with rope, knot, tie. Here it gives the concrete image of a rope or tether — what trips someone up or hobbles an animal's legs.
phonetic
bàn
half
Right supplies the sound — bàn carried over without tonal change. itself depicts an ox split down the middle (semantic "half"), and that splitting/binding imagery dovetails with the rope theme: is what halves a stride mid-step, tripping someone up. 绊倒 trip and fall, 羁绊 fetter, restraint.

Stroke Order

bàn