How to Write 抻 (chēn) — Meaning “to pull or stretch”

Imagine you are using your hand (扌) to pull a long noodle (like 申, which looks like a vertical line being stretched). Picture pulling a piece of dough until it becomes a long strand — that's 抻面, hand-pulled noodles.

Write the hand radical 扌 first (three strokes: horizontal, vertical hook, lift), then 申 (five strokes: vertical, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, horizontal). A common mistake is making the middle horizontal stroke of 申 too long, which makes the character unbalanced. Keep the strokes compact and centered.

托 (tuō) means 'to support with the hand' or 'to hold up', and has the radical 扌 plus 乇 (tuō) — it looks similar but has a different right side and meaning. 㧜 is extremely rare and not used in modern Chinese; it has 㧜 on the right (𠂉加束) and is not to be confused with 抻. Remember, 抻 always involves stretching or pulling, not supporting.

抻 is most commonly found in the word 抻面 (chēn miàn), meaning hand-pulled noodles, a famous Chinese noodle-making technique. You also see it in 抻长 (chēn zhǎng, to stretch out) and 抻懒腰 (chēn lǎn yāo, to stretch one's body). It is a vivid action word used when physically extending something.

Common words containing 抻 include: 抻面 (chēn miàn) — hand-pulled noodles; 抻长 (chēn zhǎng) — to stretch out; 抻懒腰 (chēn lǎn yāo) — to stretch oneself.