掐 (qiā): to pick (flowers), to pinch, to nip
掐 (qiā) is a Chinese character meaning “to pick (flowers).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 臽 (phonetic). It ranks #2923 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 掐 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).
Definitions
- to pick (flowers)
- to pinch
- to nip
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 掐 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 掐表 | qiā biǎo | to use a stopwatch |
| 掐死 | qiā sǐ | to throttle |
| 掐算 | qiā suàn | to count with one's fingers |
| 掐脖子 | qiā bó zi | to seize by the throat |
| 掐断 | qiā duàn | to nip off (with fingernails etc) |
| 掐架 | qiā jià | (of dogs, roosters etc) to fight |
掐 appears in 6 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 掐 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
妈妈掐着孩子的手，慢慢地过马路。
mā mā qiā zhe hái zǐ de shǒu , màn màn dì guò mǎ lù .
Mom held her child's hand tightly as they slowly crossed the street.
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měi yī kāi zhàn jìng qiā zhù tái wān yān hóu ? zhuān jiā pù 1 liàn yóu fù chǎn pǐn kǒng yī . . .
Could a U.S.-Iran War Actually Strangle Taiwan’s Economy? Expert Reveals One Refinery Byproduct That Could...
中东战事僵持 惠誉:卡达氦气被掐紧 亚洲半导体供应链恐面临“尾端风险”
zhōng dōng zhàn shì jiāng chí huì yù : kǎ dá 氦 qì bèi qiā jǐn yà zhōu bàn dǎo tǐ gōng yīng liàn kǒng miàn lín wěi duān fēng xiǎn
Stalemate in the Middle East Conflict: Fitch Warns Qatar’s Helium Supply Is Under Pressure, Asian Semiconductor Supply Chains May Face “Downstream Risks”
高雄某国小爆家长闯校冲突 涉掐脖辱骂学童遭送办
gāo xióng mǒu guó xiǎo bào jiā cháng chuǎng jiào chōng tū shè qiā bó rǔ mà xué tóng zāo sòng bàn
A parent stormed into a Kaohsiung elementary school, leading to a confrontation; the individual was referred to authorities for allegedly choking and verbally abusing a student
儿怨球被踢飞!家长暴怒冲回校“掐脖呛单挑” 2童吓坏请长假
ér yuàn qiú bèi tī fēi ! jiā cháng bào nù chōng huí jiào qiā bó qiàng dān tiāo 2 tóng hè huài qǐng cháng jiǎ
Boy Complains Ball Was Kicked Away! Enraged Parent Storms Back to School, "Grabs Throat, Shouts, and Challenges to a Fight"; Two Children Terrified, Take Extended Leave
新春走军营丨掐训风“虚花” 结打赢“实果”
xīn chūn zǒu jūn yíng 丨 qiā xùn fēng xū huā jié dǎ yíng shí guǒ
New Year's Walk to the Barracks丨Pinch the training style of "virtual flowers" and win the "fruit"
放开我，你正在掐着我的脖子。
Fàngkāi wǒ, nǐ zhèngzài qiā zhe wǒ de bózi.
Let me go, you're choking me.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 掐 (qiā) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 掐 and 焰?
How many strokes does 掐 have?
What is the radical of 掐?
What are the components of 掐?
What are common words containing 掐?
What characters sound the same as 掐 (qiā)?
Is 掐 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 掐 with real-time feedback
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