縴 meaning and stroke order
Tow rope
How to write 縴, stroke by stroke
17 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 縴
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- boatman's tow-rope
How 縴 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A thread 糹 used to pull 牽 boats; 牽 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 糹 (silk), shared by 126 characters on this site.
How to remember 縴
縴 combines silk thread 糹 with 牽 (qiān), "to pull or lead." Picture a long rope of twisted thread that boatmen use to pull a boat upstream. 牽 also hints at the sound.
縴 refers to the rope used to tow a boat from the riverbank. It appears mostly in compounds like 縴夫 (qiànfū, boat tracker) and 拉縴 (lā qiàn, to tow a boat). Example: 河邊有幾個縴夫在拉船。(Hé biān yǒu jǐ gè qiànfū zài lā chuán.) A few boat trackers are pulling a boat by the river.
Common mistake: Learners often read 縴 with the first tone like 牽 (qiān), but 縴 is fourth tone, qiàn. Also do not confuse it with 纖 (xiān, fine or slender), whose simplified form 纤 is the same as the simplified form of 縴.
Questions about 縴
How many strokes are in 縴?
縴 is written with 17 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 縴 mean?
縴 (qiàn) means tow rope.
How do you pronounce 縴?
縴 is pronounced qiàn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 縴?
The radical of 縴 is 糹, which carries the idea of "silk". Dictionaries list 縴 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 縴?
縴 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 纤, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why is 縴 written as 纤 in simplified Chinese?
In simplified Chinese, both 縴 (qiàn, tow rope) and 纖 (xiān, fine, slender) became 纤. So 纤 has two readings. It is read qiàn in words like 纤夫 and xiān in words like 纤维 (xiānwéi, fiber).
What does 拉縴 mean besides towing a boat?
拉縴 (lā qiàn) literally means pulling a boat with a tow rope. Informally it can also mean acting as a go-between, such as arranging a deal or introducing people, because the middleman "pulls" the two sides together.