擒 (qín): to capture

擒 (qín) is a Chinese character meaning “to capture.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 禽 (structural). It ranks #2945 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 擒 to catch 禽 by hand 扌; 禽 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 把 (bǎ, to hold, measure word).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to capture

Etymology & Origin

擒

ideographicTo catch 禽 by hand 扌; 禽 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰扌禽 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
欲擒故纵phraseyù qín gù zòngIn order to capture, one must let loose.
束手就擒phraseshù shǒu jiù qín(lit.) to submit to having one's hands tied and being taken prisoner (idiom)
擒获verbqín huòto apprehend
生擒shēng qínto capture alive
手到擒来shǒu dào qín láistretch a hand and grab it (idiom)
擒人节qín rén jié(jocular) Valentine's Day, referring to the rising number of extramarrital affairs being discovered on that day
就擒verbjiù qínto be taken prisoner
擒贼擒王phraseqín zéi qín wáng(idiom) to defeat the enemy by capturing their leader
8
Total compounds
38
As first character
38
As last character
25
As middle character

擒 appears in 8 compound words: 38 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 25 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

手到擒来shǒu dào qín lái

stretch a hand and grab it (idiom); very easy

phrase
束手就擒shùshǒujiùqín

to have one's hands tied and wait to be captured

phrase
欲擒故纵yùqíngùzòng

to loosen the reins in order to grasp them better

phrase

Showing 3 of 4 idioms containing 擒.

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·体育Jun 2026

面对摩洛哥队,已经出局的海地队并未束手就擒。

miàn duì mó luò gē duì , yǐ jīng chū jú de hǎi dì duì bìng wèi shù shǒu jiù qín .

Facing Morocco, Haiti—already eliminated—did not go down without a fight.

中国新闻网·体育Jun 2026

日常训练融合查拳、摔跤及硬气功,强调闪、展、腾、挪、跌、打、擒、拿等武术技法。

rì cháng xùn liàn róng hé chá quán , shuāi jiāo jí yìng qì gōng , qiáng diào shǎn , zhǎn , téng , nuó , diē , dǎ , qín , ná děng wǔ shù jì fǎ .

Daily training combines Chaquan, wrestling, and hard qigong, emphasizing martial arts techniques such as evasion, extension, leaping, shifting, falling, striking, grappling, and joint locks.

中国新闻网·文化May 2026

捕猎后,或因劳累出汗,或因入水擒鹅浸湿羽毛,需要在高处晾晒干燥后才能再次捕猎。

bǔ liè hòu , huò yīn láo lèi chū hàn , huò yīn rù shuǐ qín é jìn shī yǔ máo , xū yào zài gāo chǔ liàng shài gān zào hòu cái néng zài cì bǔ liè .

After hunting, whether due to sweating from exertion or because their feathers got wet while entering the water to catch geese, they need to dry off by hanging their feathers in a high place before they can hunt again.

中国新闻网·体育May 2026

在比赛中,防守方通过拉下进攻球员腰间的两条布制旗带来完成“擒抱”,阻止对方进攻。

zài bǐ sài zhōng , fáng shǒu fāng tōng guò lā xià jìn gōng qiú yuán yāo jiān de liǎng tiáo bù zhì qí dài lái wán chéng qín bào , zǔ zhǐ duì fāng jìn gōng .

During the game, the defensive team “tackles” the offensive player by pulling down the two fabric flags tied around the player’s waist, thereby stopping the opponent’s offense.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 擒 (qín) mean in Chinese?
擒 (qín) primarily means "to capture." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #2945 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 擒 have?
擒 is written with 15 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 擒?
The radical associated with 擒 is 扌 (hand). This radical appears in many characters related to hand.
What are the components of 擒?
擒 is composed of: 扌 (structural), 禽 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰扌禽 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 擒?
Common words with 擒 include: 欲擒故纵 (yù qín gù zòng, "In order to capture, one must let loose."); 束手就擒 (shù shǒu jiù qín, "(lit.) to submit to having one's hands tied and being taken prisoner (idiom)"); 擒获 (qín huò, "to apprehend"); 生擒 (shēng qín, "to capture alive"); 手到擒来 (shǒu dào qín lái, "stretch a hand and grab it (idiom)"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.
Is 擒 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 擒 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 擒 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.