缠 (chán): to wind around, to wrap round, to coil
缠 (chán) is a Chinese character meaning “to wind around.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 纟 (semantic) and 㢆 (phonetic). It ranks #2014 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 缠 thread. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 系 (xì, to connect), 累 (lěi, to accumulate), 绍 (shào, to continue).
Definitions
- to wind around
- to wrap round
- to coil
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 纠缠 | jiū chán | to be in a tangle |
| 缠身 | chán shēn | (of an illness, debt etc) to plague one |
| 缠绵 | chán mián | touching (emotions) |
| 缠绕 | chán rào | twisting |
| 胡搅蛮缠 | hú jiǎo mán chán | (idiom) to pester endlessly |
| 腰缠万贯 | yāo chán wàn guàn | lit. ten thousand strings of cash in money belt (idiom) |
| 盘缠 | pán chán | to twine |
| 缠夹二先生 | chán jiā èr xiān sheng | annoying muddle-headed person who gabbles unintelligibly |
| 缠夹不清 | chán jiā bù qīng | to muddle things together (idiom) |
| 死缠烂打 | sǐ chán làn dǎ | (coll.) to pester |
| 纠缠不清 | jiū chán bù qīng | hopelessly muddled |
| 量子纠缠 | liàng zǐ jiū chán | quantum entanglement (physics) |
| 缠手 | chán shǒu | troublesome |
| 缠头 | chán tóu | embroidered headband used as decoration by actors or in Hui ethnic group |
| 缠绵不已 | chán mián bù yǐ | to cling without letting go |
缠 appears in 31 compound words: 52 as the first character, 39 as the last, and 10 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 缠 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
to persistently pursue one's love (despite multiple rejections); undeterred chasing; obsession
lit. ten thousand strings of cash in money belt (idiom); carrying lots of money; extremely wealthy; loaded
to persistently pursue one's love (despite multiple rejections); undeterred chasing; obsession
lit. ten thousand strings of cash in money belt (idiom); carrying lots of money; extremely wealthy; loaded
Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing 缠.
Example Sentences
这个缠字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě chán zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "缠" carries different meanings in classical Chinese.
土豆,你的名字与世界缠绕
tǔ dòu , nǐ de míng zì yǔ shì jiè chán rào
Potato, your name is intertwined with the world
泰国斯米兰海底珊瑚礁缠“幽灵渔网” 潜水员清除逾2吨废弃渔具
tài guó sī mǐ lán hǎi de 珊 瑚 jiāo chán yōu líng yú wǎng qián shuǐ yuán qīng chú yú 2 dūn fèi qì yú jù
Divers in the submarine coral reef of Similan, Thailand, wrapped in "ghost fishing nets" Divers removed more than 2 tons of discarded fishing gear
澳女赤脚行花园遭毒蛇缠脚 吓到跌倒逃一劫 专家:蛇的防御机制
ào nǚ chì jiǎo háng huā yuán zāo dú shé chán jiǎo hè dào diē dǎo táo yī jié zhuān jiā : shé de fáng yù jī zhì
Australian woman walking barefoot in the garden was tangled in a poisonous snake and was frightened to fall and escape Expert: Snake's defense mechanism
中工经营权之争/最难攻城池 遇上最难缠对手
zhōng gōng jīng yíng quán zhī zhēng zuì nán gōng chéng chí yù shàng zuì nán chán duì shǒu
The battle for the right to operate in China / The most difficult to attack the city meets the most difficult opponent
...女孩扶起骑车摔倒老人 遭索赔人民币22万缠讼近1年
. . . nǚ hái fú qǐ qí chē shuāi dǎo lǎo rén zāo suǒ péi rén mín bì 2 2 wàn chán sòng jìn 1 nián
...A young woman helped an elderly man who had fallen off his bicycle, only to face a 220,000 yuan claim and a legal battle that has dragged on for nearly a year
护士轻柔地给我的头缠上绷带。
Hùshi qīngróu de gěi wǒ de tóu chán shàng bēngdài.
The nurse gently put a bandage around my head.
为什么我们纠缠细枝末节而不进入正题呢？
Wèishénme wǒmen jiūchán xìzhīmòjié ér bù jìnrù zhèng tí ne?
Why don't we stop arguing over these piddling matters and get to the issues at hand?
Character Family
纟 Radical Family — Characters sharing the silk radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 缠 (chán) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 缠 (chán)?
Is 缠 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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