缆 meaning and stroke order
Cable, hawser, heavy-duty rope
How to write 缆, stroke by stroke
12 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 缆
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- cable
- hawser
- to moor
How 缆 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Thread.
纟 gives the meaning and 览 hints at the sound.
Radical: 纟 (silk), shared by 143 characters on this site.
How to remember 缆
The silk radical 纟 (thread) shows this is something made of twisted fibers, and 览 (lǎn, to look at) gives the sound. Picture looking out over the harbor and seeing thick ropes, many threads twisted together, holding the ships in place.
缆 (lǎn) almost always appears in compounds for thick ropes or cables, like 电缆 (diànlǎn) electric cable, 光缆 (guānglǎn) optical cable, and 缆车 (lǎnchē) cable car. Example: 我们坐缆车上山吧。(Wǒmen zuò lǎnchē shàng shān ba.) Let's take the cable car up the mountain.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 缆 with 揽 (lǎn, to embrace or take on), which has the same sound and phonetic part but uses the hand radical 扌. Use 缆 for ropes and cables, and 揽 for actions like 揽活 (lǎn huó, to take on work).
Common words with 缆
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
缆 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 缆
How many strokes are in 缆?
缆 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 缆 mean?
缆 (lǎn) means cable, hawser, heavy-duty rope. A common word with it is 缆车 (lǎnchē), meaning "cable car".
How do you pronounce 缆?
缆 is pronounced lǎn, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 缆?
The radical of 缆 is 纟, which carries the idea of "silk". Dictionaries list 缆 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 缆?
The traditional form of 缆 is 纜. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 缆 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 缆 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 缆 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 缆 and 绳 (shéng)?
绳 is the general word for rope or string of any size. 缆 refers to a heavy cable or hawser, such as a ship's mooring line or an electric or optical cable. They combine in 缆绳 (lǎnshéng), a thick mooring rope.
Can 缆 be used as a verb?
Yes, it can mean to moor a boat with a cable, but this is mostly literary. In everyday speech people say 系缆 (xì lǎn) or 把船拴好 (bǎ chuán shuān hǎo) instead.