掐
qiā
to pick (flowers); to pinch; to nip; to pinch off; to clutch; (slang) to fight
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 掐 is formed
Phono-semantic compound (形声字)
扌 meaning “hand” + 臽 sound ()
Components 扌 臽
Words with 掐
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 掐死 | to throttle; to choke to death | |
| 掐表 | to use a stopwatch | |
| 掐脖子 | to seize by the throat | |
| 掐断 | to nip off (with fingernails etc); (fig.) to cut off (supply etc); to disconnect | |
| 掐算 | to count with one's fingers; on the spot calculation | |
| 掐架 | (of dogs, roosters etc) to fight; to tussle; (of people) to have an altercation with sb (p… |
Sound family
Characters sharing the sound component 臽 — compare how they read.