牵 (qiān): to lead along, to pull (an animal on a tether), (bound form) to involve
牵 (qiān) is a Chinese character meaning “to lead along.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 大 (structural), 冖 (structural) and 牛 (structural). It ranks #1666 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 牵 a person 大 pulling an ox 牛 by a rope 冖. Its radical form 牛 (cow) appears in many related characters such as 牛 (niú, ox), 物 (wù, (bound form) thing), 特 (tè, special).
Definitions
- to lead along
- to pull (an animal on a tether)
- (bound form) to involve
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 大 pulling an ox 牛 by a rope 冖
Decomposition: ⿱大⿱冖牛 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 牵 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 牵扯verb | qiān chě | to involve |
| 牵涉verb | qiān shè | to involve |
| 牵连verb | qiān lián | to implicate |
| 牵挂verb | qiān guà | to worry about |
| 牵制verb | qiān zhì | to control |
| 牵强adjective | qiān qiǎng | far-fetched |
| 牵引verb | qiān yǐn | to pull |
| 顺手牵羊phrase | shùn shǒu qiān yáng | lit. to lead away a goat while passing by (idiom) |
| 牵牛花noun | qiān niú huā | white-edged morning glory |
| 牵线verb | qiān xiàn | to pull strings |
| 魂牵梦萦phrase | hún qiān mèng yíng | (idiom) to miss very much |
| 牵动verb | qiān dòng | to affect |
| 牵头verb | qiān tóu | to lead (an animal by the head) |
| 牵强附会phrase | qiān qiǎng fù huì | to make an irrelevant comparison or interpretation (idiom) |
| 牵引力 | qiān yǐn lì | motive force |
牵 appears in 48 compound words: 77 as the first character, 2 as the last, and 21 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 牵 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to steal something under the cover of an emergency; to take advantage of a crisis for personal gain
to steal something under the cover of an emergency; to take advantage of a crisis for personal gain
Showing 5 of 6 idioms containing 牵.
Example Sentences
这个牵字的意思与它的部首有关。
zhè gě qiān zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .
The meaning of the character "牵" is related to its radical.
牵手Lumentum与Coherent,英...
qiān shǒu L u m e n t u m yǔ C o h e r e n t , yīng . . .
Holding hands with Lumentum and Coherent, British...
牵扯艾普斯坦引发学界风暴 哈佛切割前校长桑...
qiān chě ài pǔ sī tǎn yǐn fā xué jiè fēng bào hā fó qiē gē qián jiào cháng sāng . . .
Involving Epstein caused a storm in the academic world, Harvard cut former president Sang...
长建牵头财团售英国配电商 UKPN 消息:企业...
cháng jiàn qiān tóu cái tuán shòu yīng guó pèi diàn shāng U K P N xiāo xī : qǐ yè . . .
Changjian leads a consortium to sell UK electricity distributor UKPN news: enterprises...
与爱泼斯坦有牵连,美国前财长萨默斯将辞去哈佛教职
yǔ ài pō sī tǎn yǒu qiān lián , měi guó qián cái cháng sà mò sī jiāng cí qù hā fó jiào zhí
Involved with Epstein, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Summers will resign from Harvard University
英国前驻美大使因牵涉爱泼斯坦案被捕
yīng guó qián zhù měi dà shǐ yīn qiān shè ài pō sī tǎn àn bèi bǔ
The former British ambassador to the United States was arrested for his involvement in the Epstein case
你看似对这世间已了无牵挂。
Nǐ kànsì duì zhè shìjiān yǐ le wú qiānguà.
You look as if you don't have a care in the world.
我不想被牵扯到这件事里。
Wǒ bù xiǎng bèi qiānchě dào zhè jiàn shì lǐ.
I don't want to be involved in that matter.
这对夫妻手牵手走路。
Zhè duì fūqī shǒuqiānshǒu zǒulù.
The couple is walking hand in hand.
不止你， 连我也被牵连了。
Bù zhǐ nǐ, lián wǒ yě bèi qiānlián le.
Not only you but also I was involved.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 牵 (qiān) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 牵 and 推?
How many strokes does 牵 have?
What is the radical of 牵?
What are the components of 牵?
What are common words containing 牵?
What characters sound the same as 牵 (qiān)?
Is 牵 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 牵 with real-time feedback
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