How to Write 拦 (lán) — Meaning “to block; to stop”

Picture a hand (扌) holding up a large orchid (兰) like a stop sign in front of you. The orchid physically blocks your path, so you have to stop. This image ties the hand and orchid directly to the meaning "to block."

Write the left radical 扌 first, making sure the vertical stroke ends with a clear hook. The right part 兰 is just three strokes: two horizontals and a vertical. A common mistake is making the radical too wide or forgetting the hook, so keep the right side narrow and balanced.

拦 (lán) means "to block" and uses 兰 as phonetic. 托 (tuō) also has 扌 but with 乇, meaning "to support" or "to hold up" (e.g., 托付). The rare character 㧜 has no standard meaning and is not used in modern Chinese. Visually, 兰 vs 乇 is the key difference.

拦 is common in everyday speech, like 拦住 (to stop someone) or 拦路 (to block the road). You might hear it when asking someone to stop a car: 拦车. It is not in the HSK list but is useful for describing physical obstruction.

Common words containing 拦 include: 拦住 (lán zhù) — to stop; to hold back; 阻拦 (zǔ lán) — to stop; to obstruct; 拦路 (lán lù) — to block the way.