抢 (qiǎng) is a Chinese character meaning “to snatch”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 仓 (storehouse; granary), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “to snatch”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
扌 + 仓
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字·手部：搶，㥋也。从手倉聲
Memory aid
A hand (扌) reaching into the granary (仓): whoever gets there first grabs the grain.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 抢救qiǎng jiùto rescue; to give emergency treatment抢 = qiǎng
- 抢劫qiǎng jiéto rob; robbery抢 = qiǎng
Go deeper
All readings
to snatch
to snatch; to grab; to rob; to rush to do something ahead of others
夺；强行拿走。也表示争先去做某事。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 抢救qiǎng jiùto rescue; to give emergency treatment抢 = qiǎng
- 抢劫qiǎng jiéto rob; robbery抢 = qiǎng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 抢 mean?
抢 (qiǎng) means to snatch; to grab; to rob; to rush to do something ahead of others.
How do you pronounce 抢?
It is pronounced qiǎng.
What parts is 抢 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 仓 (storehouse; granary), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·手部：搶，㥋也。从手倉聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 抢 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 抢?
手. 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 抢?
Common ones are 抢救 and 抢劫. The reading of 抢 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.