扳 (bān): to pull, to turn (sth) around, to turn around (a situation)

扳 (bān) is a Chinese character meaning “to pull.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 反 (phonetic). It ranks #2833 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 扳 hand. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 扌 hand7 strokesFrequency #2833扌 semantic 反 phonetic

Definitions

to pull
to turn (sth) around
to turn around (a situation)

Etymology & Origin

扳

pictophonetichand

Decomposition: ⿰扌反 (layout: left-right)

Components:扌semantic 反phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 扳 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
扳机	bān jī	(gun) trigger
扳手	bān shǒu	spanner
扳回	bān huí	to pull back
扳子	bān zi	spanner
扳平	bān píng	to equalize
活动扳手	huó dòng bān shǒu	adjustable spanner
扳回一城	bān huí yī chéng	to recover some lost ground (in a competition)
扳不倒儿	bān bù dǎo r	(dialect) roly-poly toy
内六角扳手	nèi liù jiǎo bān shǒu	Allen key
扳道员	bān dào yuán	pointsman
扳本儿	bān běn r	to recoup losses (in gambling)
管扳手	guǎn bān shǒu	pipe wrench
扳指儿	bān zhǐ r	erhua variant of 扳指[ban1 zhi3]
呆扳手	dāi bān shǒu	open spanner
扳道	bān dào	railroad switch

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

扳 appears in 26 compound words: 73 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 27 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 扳 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

扣kòu

0.6024,188 co-occurrences

倒dǎo

0.4672,244 co-occurrences

平píng

0.4117,914 co-occurrences

比bǐ

0.3924,722 co-occurrences

机jī

0.3923,444 co-occurrences

杆gān

0.378270 co-occurrences

械xiè

0.368552 co-occurrences

手shǒu

0.3653,528 co-occurrences

操cāo

0.364756 co-occurrences

按àn

0.363906 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

扳不倒儿bānbùdǎorHSK 7+

Erhua form of 扳不倒 (bānbùdǎo, “roly-poly toy”).

noun

扳回一城bān huí yī chéngHSK 7+

to recover some lost ground (in a competition)

phrase

Showing 2 of 3 idioms containing 扳.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

他扳了一个电话，约朋友晚上一起吃饭。

tā bān le yī gě diàn huà , yāo péng yǒu wǎn shǎng yī qǐ chī fàn .

He made a phone call to invite a friend to dinner that evening.

StheadlineApr 2026

英足总杯|韦斯咸补时入两球扳平互射12码惨负列斯联出局

yīng zú zǒng bēi Wéi sī xián bǔ shí rù liǎng qiú bān píng hù shè 1 2 mǎ cǎn fù liè sī lián chū jú

Hk01.comMar 2026

中超|港将陈晋一世界波罚球扳平京沪打吡申花1:1逼和国安

zhōng chāo gǎng jiāng chén jìn yī shì jiè bō fá qiú bān píng jīng hù dǎ 吡 shēn huā 1 : 1 bī hé guó ān

Chinese Super League | Hong Kong-born Chen Jinyi scores a stunning free kick to level the score; in the Beijing derby, Shanghai Shenhua holds Beijing Guoan to a 1-1 draw

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Feb 2026

棋仙战围棋决赛:王星昊小胜对手扳平比分

qí xiān zhàn wéi qí jué sài : wáng xīng 昊 xiǎo shèng duì shǒu bān píng bǐ fēn

Chess Immortal Battle Go Final: Wang Xinghao defeated his opponent and equalized

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 扳 (bān) mean in Chinese?

扳 (bān) primarily means "to pull." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2833 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 扳 and 推?

扳 (bān) and 推 (tuī) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 扳 (pull) vs 推 (push).

How many strokes does 扳 have?

扳 is written with 7 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 扳?

The radical associated with 扳 is 扌 (hand). This radical appears in many characters related to hand.

What are the components of 扳?

扳 is composed of: 扌 (semantic), 反 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰扌反 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 扳?

Common words with 扳 include: 扳机 (bān jī, "(gun) trigger"); 扳手 (bān shǒu, "spanner"); 扳回 (bān huí, "to pull back"); 扳子 (bān zi, "spanner"); 扳平 (bān píng, "to equalize"). There are over 26 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 扳 (bān)?

Several characters share the pronunciation bān: 板 (board, plank), 版 (a register), 班 (team), 般 (sort), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 扳 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 扳 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 扳 with real-time feedback

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