钳 (qián): pincers, pliers, tongs

钳 (qián) is a Chinese character meaning “pincers.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (semantic) and 甘 (phonetic). It ranks #2881 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 钳 metal. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. pincers
  2. pliers
  3. tongs

Etymology & Origin

钳

pictophoneticmetal

Decomposition: ⿰钅甘 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Practice writing 钳 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
钳子nounqián zipliers
老虎钳nounlǎo hǔ qiánvise
钳制verbqián zhìto suppress
火钳nounhuǒ qiánfire tongs
钳工nounqián gōngfitter
虎钳nounhǔ qiánvise
大力钳dà lì qiánlocking pliers
管子钳guǎn zi qiánpipe wrench
克丝钳子kè sī qián ziwire cutting pincers
断线钳duàn xiàn qiánbolt cutter
压线钳yā xiàn qiáncrimping pliers
指甲钳nounzhǐ jia qiánnail clipper
台虎钳nountái hǔ qiánbench vise
管钳guǎn qiánpipe wrench
钳住qián zhùto clamp down
25
Total compounds
24
As first character
72
As last character
4
As middle character

钳 appears in 25 compound words: 24 as the first character, 72 as the last, and 4 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 钳 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

夹jiā
0.534136 co-occurrences
刹chà
0.49550 co-occurrences
虾xiā
0.49342 co-occurrences
嘴zuǐ
0.472118 co-occurrences
螃páng
0.46716 co-occurrences
蟹xiè
0.44848 co-occurrences
剥bāo
0.42330 co-occurrences
势shì
0.39790 co-occurrences
焊hàn
0.39514 co-occurrences
制zhì
0.372370 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

克丝钳子kè sī qián ziHSK 7+

wire cutting pincers

phrase
钳马衔枚qián mǎ xián méiHSK 7+

with horses and soldiers gagged (idiom); (of a marching army) in utter silence

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这把钳锁已经生锈了,打不开了。

zhè bǎ qián suǒ yǐ jīng shēng xiù le , dǎ bù kāi le .

This padlock has rusted shut and won't open.

少数派Jul 2026

买回来后就迫不及待开洗,从表带到指甲钳,从眼镜到手机壳,统统丢进去滋啦滋啦。

mǎi huí lái hòu jiù pò bù jí dài kāi xǐ , cóng biǎo dài dào zhǐ jiǎ qián , cóng yǎn jìng dào shǒu jī qiào , tǒng tǒng diū jìn qù zī lā zī lā .

As soon as I got it home, I couldn't wait to put it to work. From watch straps to nail clippers, from glasses to phone cases—I threw it all in and let it go sizzle, sizzle.

中国新闻网·生活Jul 2026

肺吸虫 藏身于淡水溪蟹、东北蝲蛄体内,囊蚴藏于蟹肉、蟹钳内。

fèi xī chóng zàng shēn yú dàn shuǐ xī xiè , dōng běi 蝲 蛄 tǐ nèi , náng 蚴 zàng yú xiè ròu , xiè qián nèi .

Lung flukes hide in freshwater stream crabs and northeastern mole crickets, with their cysts found in the crab meat and claws.

IT之家Jun 2026

同时在轮胎、制动卡钳这些小细节上,也都思考了能耗的优化。

tóng shí zài lún tāi , zhì dòng kǎ qián zhè xiē xiǎo xì jié shàng , yě dōu sī kǎo le néng hào de yōu huà .

At the same time, energy efficiency has been optimized even in small details such as tires and brake calipers.

IT之家Jun 2026

新车还将提供 20-22 英寸多款不同样式轮毂,并可选红、灰、黄等颜色的刹车卡钳。

xīn chē hái jiāng tí gōng 2 0 2 2 yīng cùn duō kuǎn bù tóng yàng shì lún 毂 , bìng kě xuǎn hóng , huī , huáng děng yán sè de chà chē kǎ qián .

The new car will also offer a variety of 20- to 22-inch wheel designs, as well as brake calipers in colors such as red, gray, and yellow.

爱范儿May 2026

前六后四的阿基波罗固定卡钳,配合四块巨大的碳陶制动盘。

qián liù hòu sì de ā jī bō luó gù dìng kǎ qián , pèi gě sì kuài jù dà de tàn táo zhì dòng pán .

Akipolo fixed calipers—six in the front and four in the rear—paired with four massive carbon-ceramic brake rotors.

Tatoeba

把钳子放在工具箱里。

Bǎ qiánzi fàng zài gōngjùxiāng lǐ.

Put the pliers in the tool box.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 钅 (metal) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced qián

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 钳 (qián) mean in Chinese?
钳 (qián) primarily means "pincers." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2881 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 钳 and 酣?
钳 (qián) and 酣 (hān) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 钅 vs 酉 (same 甘 component).
How many strokes does 钳 have?
钳 is written with 10 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 钳?
The radical associated with 钳 is 钅 (metal). This radical appears in many characters related to metal.
What are the components of 钳?
钳 is composed of: 钅 (semantic), 甘 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰钅甘 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 钳?
Common words with 钳 include: 钳子 (qián zi, "pliers"); 老虎钳 (lǎo hǔ qián, "vise"); 钳制 (qián zhì, "to suppress"); 火钳 (huǒ qián, "fire tongs"); 钳工 (qián gōng, "fitter"). There are over 25 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 钳 (qián)?
Several characters share the pronunciation qián: 前 (front), 钱 (money), 千 (thousand), 签 (to sign one's name), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 钳 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 钳 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 钳 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.