How to Write 躜 (zuān) — Meaning “to jump; to wriggle into”

Imagine a foot (足) trying to jump into a pile of money (the bottom part of 赞 looks like 贝, meaning 'shell' or 'money')—the foot wriggles and pushes upward to reach the treasure. This mental image links the foot radical to the jump-and-wriggle meaning.

The foot radical 足 has a long final stroke (捺) that should extend slightly to the right, but don't let it crash into the right side. The right side 赞 contains many horizontal lines—keep them parallel and not too long, especially the top 先 portion, to maintain balance.

躜 (zuān) means 'to jump' or 'to wriggle into,' while 躏 (lìn) means 'to trample' (as in 蹂躏, 'to ravage'), and 躐 (liè) means 'to step over' or 'to skip.' Visually, 躜 has 赞 on the right with a 贝 at the bottom, whereas 躏 has 閵 (a complex gate-like shape) and 躐 has 巤 (a top that looks like a net).

This character is rare and mostly appears in formal or literary descriptions of wriggling or upward movement, such as 躜动 (zuān dòng, 'to wriggle') or 向上躜 (xiàng shàng zuān, 'to push upward'). You might encounter it in nature writing about insects or in technical texts, but it is not used in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 躜 include: 躜动 (zuān dòng) — to wriggle; to move about; 躜步 (zuān bù) — to take a quick step; to leap; 向上躜 (xiàng shàng zuān) — to push upward; to drill upward.