How to Write 铤 (dìng/tǐng) — Meaning “To run fast; metal ingot”

Picture a metal ingot (钅) shaped like a flat rectangle, and imagine it being thrown quickly down a long hallway (廷) to remember the meaning "to run fast." The ingot itself is shiny and heavy, helping you recall the "metal ingot" meaning. The sound "ding" can be linked to the clink of metal.

Pay attention to the right component 廷: it has a horizontal stroke at the top that extends slightly past the vertical stroke on the left, and the bottom part is 廴 (a walking radical) not 廴 with a dot. A common mistake is to make the 廴 too wide or to forget the final downward stroke that curves left. The left radical 钅 should be narrow and slightly higher than the right side.

钙 (gài, calcium) and 钚 (bù, plutonium) are chemical element names, while 铤 is not a chemical element. Visually, 钙 has 丐 (gài) on the right, 钚 has 不 (bù), and 铤 has 廷 (tíng). In usage, 铤 appears in phrases like 铤而走险 (take a risk out of desperation) and refers to metal ingots, whereas 钙 and 钚 are only used in scientific contexts.

铤 is most commonly seen in the idiom 铤而走险 (tǐng ér zǒu xiǎn), meaning to take a desperate risk or act rashly when pushed into a corner. It can also mean "metal ingot" (铜铤, copper ingot) in industrial or historical contexts, but this usage is rare. The pronunciation changes: tǐng for the action meaning and dìng for the metal meaning.

Common words containing 铤 include: 铤而走险 (tǐng ér zǒu xiǎn) — To take a risk out of desperation; 铜铤 (tóng dìng) — Copper ingot; 铤走 (dìng zǒu) — To run away fast.