掌 (zhǎng): palm of the hand, sole of the foot, paw
掌 (zhǎng) is a Chinese character meaning “palm of the hand.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 尚 (phonetic) and 手 (semantic). It ranks #890 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 掌 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
- palm of the hand
- sole of the foot
- paw
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 掌 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 掌
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 掌握verb | zhǎng wò | to grasp (often fig.) | 5 |
| 鼓掌 | gǔ zhǎng | to applaud | 5 |
| 掌声noun | zhǎng shēng | applause | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 掌管 | zhǎng guǎn | in charge of |
| 了如指掌 | liǎo rú zhǐ zhǎng | to know sth like the back of one's hand (idiom) |
| 巴掌 | bā zhang | palm of the hand |
| 手掌 | shǒu zhǎng | palm |
| 击掌 | jī zhǎng | to clap one's hands |
| 掌权 | zhǎng quán | to wield (political etc) power |
| 仙人掌 | xiān rén zhǎng | cactus |
| 易如反掌 | yì rú fǎn zhǎng | easy as a hand's turn (idiom) |
| 掌舵 | zhǎng duò | to steer (a ship) |
| 掌心 | zhǎng xīn | hollow of the palm |
| 手掌心 | shǒu zhǎng xīn | see 手心[shou3 xin1] |
| 熊掌 | xióng zhǎng | bear paw (as food) |
| 执掌 | zhí zhǎng | to wield (power etc) |
| 脚掌 | jiǎo zhǎng | the sole of the foot |
| 掌骨 | zhǎng gǔ | metacarpal bone (long bones in the hand and feet) |
掌 appears in 70 compound words: 39 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 17 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 掌 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (16)
to rub one's fists and wipe one's palms; to roll up one's sleeves for a battle
lit. arm-flinging shopkeeper; fig. sb who asks others to work but does nothing himself
to rub one's fists and wipe one's palms; to roll up one's sleeves for a battle
Showing 12 of 16 idioms containing 掌.
Example Sentences
他掌握了这门技术的核心要领。
Tā zhǎngwò le zhè mén jìshù de héxīn yàolǐng.
He has mastered the core essentials of this technology.
錢進美股ETF 掌握先機 財報與資金推動下 建議適度布局
錢 進 měi gǔ zhǎng wò xiān 機 財 報 與 資 jīn tuī 動 xià jiàn 議 適 dù bù jú
Invest in U.S. Stock ETFs to Seize Opportunities Driven by Earnings Reports and Capital Flows Recommend Moderate Positioning
茶敘妙語...韓國瑜:不要化骨綿掌 賴清德:專長止咳化痰
chá 敘 miào 語 . . . 韓 國 瑜 bù yāo huà gǔ 綿 zhǎng 賴 qīng dé 專 長 zhǐ hāi huà tán
Tea Talk Pearls... Han Kuo-yu: Don't use the Bone-Melting Palm Lai Ching-te: Specializes in relieving coughs and clearing phlegm
...tsApp群組訊息記錄:更私密地讓新成員掌握群組最近動向
. . . qún 組 訊 xī 記 錄 gēng sī mì dì 讓 xīn chéng 員 zhǎng wò qún 組 zuì jìn 動 xiàng
tsApp Group Message History: A more private way for new members to catch up on recent group activity
掌握 AI 新基建商機 中信009819准...
zhǎng wò xīn jī jiàn shāng 機 zhōng xìn zhǔn . . .
Seizing AI New Infrastructure Opportunities: CITIC 009819 Prepares...
巴菲特執掌的最後一季 波克夏上季依然賣超美股
bā 菲 tè 執 zhǎng de zuì 後 yī jì bō kè xià shàng jì yī rán 賣 chāo měi gǔ
Warren Buffett's Last Quarter at the Helm Polkshares Still Outperformed U.S. Stocks Last Quarter
贝内迪托与排队的粉丝们击掌。
Bèi nèi dí tuō yǔ páiduì de fěnsī men jīzhǎng.
Benedito gave out high fives to fans in the queue.
鱼与熊掌不可兼得。
Yúyǔxióngzhǎngbùkějiāndé.
You cannot eat your cake and keep it.
万事皆在上帝的掌控之中。
Wànshì jiē zài Shàngdì de zhǎngkòng zhīzhōng.
Everything is in the hands of God.
你的嘴唇软绵绵的，就像仙人掌的表皮一样。
Nǐ de zuǐchún ruǎnmiánmián de, jiù xiàng xiānrénzhǎng de biǎopí yīyàng.
Your lips are soft like the surface of a cactus.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 掌 (zhǎng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 掌 and 堂?
How many strokes does 掌 have?
What is the radical of 掌?
What are the components of 掌?
What are common words containing 掌?
Is 掌 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 掌 with real-time feedback
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