How to Write 噙 (qín) — Meaning “to hold in the mouth or eyes”

Picture a bird (禽) holding a single tear in its beak (口) — this captures the meaning of holding something in the mouth or eyes. The bird carefully keeps the tear from falling, just like someone holding back tears.

Write the left 口 first (3 strokes), then the right part 禽 (12 strokes). In 禽, pay attention to the bottom component 禸 (4 strokes) — it is not the same as 离; a common mistake is to write 禸 incorrectly by missing the 撇折 stroke.

噙 has 口 on the left and 禽 on the right, while 㕡 has 穴 below the mouth and is a rare, ancient character meaning 'to shout'. 喿 is a component meaning 'chirping' and appears in characters like 噪; it has three mouths stacked, not the bird element 禽.

噙 appears in literary and emotional descriptions, such as 噙着泪 (with tears in one's eyes). It is not part of everyday conversation but adds vividness to novels and poetry, often showing restrained sadness or deep emotion.

Common words containing 噙 include: 噙着泪 (qín zhe lèi) — with tears in one's eyes; 噙着泪水 (qín zhe lèi shuǐ) — with tears in one's eyes; 噙满 (qín mǎn) — to be filled with (tears).