捍 (hàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to defend”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 旱 (drought; dry spell), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to defend; to guard”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
扌 + 旱
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分，经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（扌3画 + 旱7画 = 10画）
Memory aid
A hand (扌) held up against the drought (旱) — standing firm to defend what is yours.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 捍卫hàn wèito defend; to uphold; to safeguard捍 = hàn
Go deeper
All readings
to defend; to guard
to defend; to guard against; to resist in order to protect
保卫，抵御，使不受侵犯。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 捍卫hàn wèito defend; to uphold; to safeguard捍 = hàn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 捍 mean?
捍 (hàn) means to defend; to guard against; to resist in order to protect.
How do you pronounce 捍?
It is pronounced hàn.
What parts is 捍 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 旱 (drought; dry spell), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分，经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（扌3画 + 旱7画 = 10画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 捍 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 捍?
扌. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 捍?
Common ones are 捍卫. The reading of 捍 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.