掰 (bāi): to break off or break open sth with one's hands, (fig.) to break off (a relationship)
掰 (bāi) is a Chinese character meaning “to break off or break open sth with one's hands.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 手 (structural), 分 (structural) and 手 (structural). It ranks #2991 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 掰 to tear something 分 with both hands 手. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- to break off or break open sth with one's hands
- (fig.) to break off (a relationship)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo tear something 分 with both hands 手
Decomposition: ⿲手分手 (layout: left-middle-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 掰 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 掰开 | bāi kāi | to pull apart |
| 掰掰 | bāi bāi | bye-bye (loanword) (Tw) |
| 掰腕子 | bāi wàn zi | arm wrestling |
| 分星掰两 | fēn xīng bāi liǎng | punctilious |
| 机掰 | jī bāi | variant of 雞掰|鸡掰[ji1 bai1] |
| 掰直 | bāi zhí | to straighten |
| 掰开揉碎 | bāi kāi róu suì | lit. to pull apart and knead to a pulp |
| 假掰 | gēi bāi | (Tw) affected |
| 掰手腕 | bāi shǒu wàn | arm wrestling |
| 闹掰 | nào bāi | (dialect) to have a falling-out (with sb) |
| 鸡掰 | jī bāi | (Tw) (vulgar) cunt (from Taiwanese 膣屄, Tai-lo pr. [tsi-bai]) |
| 掰弯 | bāi wān | to bend |
| 掰扯 | bāi che | to debate |
| 瞎掰 | xiā bāi | (coll.) to talk nonsense |
掰 appears in 14 compound words: 57 as the first character, 36 as the last, and 7 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 掰 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
掰照镜子，整理一下自己的仪容。
bāi zhào jìng zǐ , zhěng lǐ yī xià zì jǐ de yí róng .
Check your reflection in the mirror and tidy up your appearance.
“民进党宝宝”陈怡君掰了!绿六都议员初选 3人遭撤销登记
mín jìn dǎng bǎo bǎo chén yí jūn bāi le ! lǜ liù dōu yì yuán chū xuǎn 3 rén zāo chè xiāo dēng jì
"DPP baby" Chen Yijun broke up! Three people in the primary election of the Green Six Metropolitan Councilors were deregistered
面条下锅前要先掰成小块。
Miàntiáo xià guō qián yào xiān bāi chéng xiǎo kuài.
Before you put the noodles in the pot, you have to break them up into small pieces.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 掰 (bāi) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 掰 and 闭?
How many strokes does 掰 have?
What is the radical of 掰?
What are the components of 掰?
What are common words containing 掰?
What characters sound the same as 掰 (bāi)?
Is 掰 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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