HSK 6 · Verbs

捏 niē “to pinch” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 捏 means

to pinch
to hold between the fingers
to knead
to hold between the thumb and fingers
to mould (using the fingers)

More meanings from CC-CEDICT

to hold (lit. in one’s hand and fig.)
to join together
to fabricate (a story, a report, etc)

How to say 捏

捏niē1st tone, high and level

捏 in a sentence

汤姆捏了玛丽的手。
Tāngmǔ niē le Mǎlì de shǒu.
Tom squeezed Mary’s hand.
Sentence #10047711 from Tatoeba · translation adapted
捏一把汗 (literally “to clutch a handful of sweat”) means “to be on edge with worry”
她虚弱的样子让我捏了一把汗。
Tā xūruò de yàngzi ràng wǒ niē le yì bǎ hàn.
Seeing how weak she looked had me on edge.
Sentence #1394890 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 捏 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 捏 (niē) with each of its parts in a different colour

捏niēto hold between the thumb and fingers

扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
圼slimeSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 圼 () hints at the sound. Compare it with niē.

How to write 捏

捏 10 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

捏 (niē) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it — Stroke order chart for 捏 (niē). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 捏

More words: Common Verbs

谋求móuqiú · to seek 目睹mùdǔ · to witness 沐浴mùyù · to bathe 拟定nǐdìng · to draw up 拧níng · to twist 凝视níngshì · to gaze at 扭转niǔzhuǎn · to turn around 挪nuó · to move

FAQs

What does 捏 mean in English?

捏 (niē) means “to pinch” or “to hold between the fingers”. It is an HSK 6 word.

How do you pronounce 捏?

Say it niē: niē with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.

Is 捏 the same in Traditional Chinese?

Yes. 捏 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.

How do you type 捏 on a keyboard?

Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type nie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 捏 from the suggestions. Typing nie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.

What HSK level is 捏?

捏 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.