How to Write 揞 (ǎn) — Meaning “to cover with the hand”

Imagine you see a stray cat and you want to comfort it by gently covering it with your hand while saying 'ān, ān' to calm it down. The left side is your hand (扌) and the right side is your calming sound (安). This connects the shape to the meaning of covering with the hand.

Write the left radical 扌 (hand radical) first with three strokes, then write the right part 安 starting with a dot on top. Make sure the left side is slightly narrower and the right side wider, and the bottom of 安 (the 女 component) aligns with the bottom of 扌. A common mistake is making the right side too big or the left side too wide.

揞 (ǎn) means 'to cover with the hand', while 挨 (ái) means 'to suffer' or 'to lean on', and 挫 (cuò) means 'to defeat' or 'to blunt'. Visually, 揞 has 安 on the right, 挨 has 矣, and 挫 has 坐. Their pronunciations and meanings are completely different, so always check the right side for clues.

揞 is not common in everyday Mandarin and is not in the HSK list, but it appears in phrases like 揞药 (to apply ointment by pressing) or 揞住 (to cover up with the hand). You might hear it in some dialects or in traditional medical contexts where someone presses ointment onto a wound.

Common words containing 揞 include: 揞住 (ǎn zhù) — to cover up with the hand; 揞着 (ǎn zhe) — covering with the hand; 揞药 (ǎn yào) — to apply ointment by pressing.