揪 (jiū): to seize, to clutch, to grab firmly and pull

揪 (jiū) is a Chinese character meaning “to seize.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 秋 (phonetic). It ranks #2778 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 揪 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).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 扌 hand12 strokesFrequency #2778扌 semantic 秋 phonetic

Definitions

to seize
to clutch
to grab firmly and pull

Etymology & Origin

揪

pictophonetichand

Decomposition: ⿰扌秋 (layout: left-right)

Components:扌semantic 秋phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 揪 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
揪心verb	jiū xīn	lit. grips the heart
揪出	jiū chū	to uncover
揪住	jiū zhù	to grab
揪送	jiū sòng	to seize and send (to court, to face punishment)
揪斗	jiū dòu	to seize and subject to public criticism (form of persecution during the Cultural Revolution)
揪心扒肝	jiū xīn bā gān	(idiom) extremely anxious
揪辫子	jiū biàn zi	to grab sb by the queue (i.e. hair)
揪心揪肺	jiū xīn jiū fèi	heart-wrenching
揪痧	jiū shā	folk remedy involving repeatedly pinching the neck, throat, back etc to increase blood flow to the area and relieve i...
揪揪	jiū jiu	creased

Total compounds

100

As first character

As last character

As middle character

揪 appears in 10 compound words: 100 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 0 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 揪 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

斗dǒu

0.436212 co-occurrences

呀yā

0.37710 co-occurrences

蠢chǔn

0.37610 co-occurrences

凶xiōng

0.36314 co-occurrences

出chū

0.352758 co-occurrences

疼téng

0.34712 co-occurrences

狂kuáng

0.33730 co-occurrences

住zhù

0.331108 co-occurrences

鞋xié

0.32412 co-occurrences

抄chāo

0.32112 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

揪心扒肝jiū xīn bā gānHSK 7+

(idiom) extremely anxious; anguished

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

他揪了一个电话，约朋友晚上一起吃饭。

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

He made a phone call and invited his friends to dinner that evening.

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

李四川批苏巧慧刚当立委就想选市长绿议员揪川伯上周这句呛言行不一

lǐ sì chuān pī sū qiǎo huì gāng dāng lì wěi jiù xiǎng xuǎn shì cháng lǜ yì yuán jiū chuān bó shàng zhōu zhè jù qiàng yán háng bù yī

Li Sichuan criticized Su Qiaohui for wanting to run for mayor so soon after becoming a legislator; a Green Party councilor called out "Uncle Chuan" for his hypocritical remarks last week

TvbsMar 2026

资深男星2度酒驾撞分隔岛!肇逃后“揪友聚餐灭证” 坦承嫌疑遭移送

zī shēn nán xīng 2 dù jiǔ jià zhuàng fēn gé dǎo ! zhào táo hòu jiū yǒu jù cān miè zhèng tǎn chéng xián yí zāo yí sòng

Veteran Actor Caught Drunk Driving for the Second Time, Crashes Into Median! Flees the Scene, Then "Gathers Friends for Dinner to Destroy Evidence"; Admits to Charges and Is Referred to Prosecutors

EttodayMar 2026

...长文吐露WBC心境!首扛拆弹任务还原最揪心瞬间

. . . cháng wén tǔ lù W B C xīn jìng ! shǒu gāng chāi dàn rèn wù hái yuán zuì jiū xīn shùn jiān

...A lengthy post reveals his thoughts on the WBC! Taking on the role of "bomb defuser" for the first time, he recounts the most nerve-wracking moment

工商時報Mar 2026

证交所揪团推前瞻产业合作计画

zhèng jiāo suǒ jiū tuán tuī qián zhān chǎn yè gě zuò jì huà

Stock Exchange Launches Collaborative Initiative for Future-Oriented Industries

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

....陆男离婚不成到女方家喊“骗婚” 开直播揪网吃瓜

. . . . lù nán lí hūn bù chéng dào nǚ fāng jiā hǎn piàn hūn kāi zhí bō jiū wǎng chī guā

.... Lu Nan couldn't get divorced, so he went to the woman's house to shout "cheat marriage" and opened a live broadcast to grab the Internet and eat melons

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 揪 (jiū) mean in Chinese?

揪 (jiū) primarily means "to seize." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2778 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 揪 and 推?

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

How many strokes does 揪 have?

揪 is written with 12 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 揪?

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

What are the components of 揪?

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

What are common words containing 揪?

Common words with 揪 include: 揪心 (jiū xīn, "lit. grips the heart"); 揪出 (jiū chū, "to uncover"); 揪住 (jiū zhù, "to grab"); 揪送 (jiū sòng, "to seize and send (to court, to face punishment)"); 揪斗 (jiū dòu, "to seize and subject to public criticism (form of persecution during the Cultural Revolution)"). There are over 10 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 揪 (jiū)?

Several characters share the pronunciation jiū: 就 ((after a suppositional clause) in that case), 究 (research), 久 ((of a period of time) long), 九 (nine), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 揪 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

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