掐 (qiā) is a Chinese character meaning “to pinch or nip with the fingernails”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 臽 (small pit (said to show a person above a pit)), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to pinch”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
扌 + 臽
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS ⿰扌臽（现代字形拆分，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–2 扌，3–10 臽）
Memory aid
A hand (扌) presses its fingernails into a pit (臽) — squeezing hard enough to leave a dent: that is 掐, to pinch.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 掐断qiā duànto cut off; to pinch off掐 = qiā
Go deeper
All readings
to pinch
to pinch or nip with the fingernails; to clutch; to cut off (a stem, a call, etc.)
用指甲按、捏或截断；也指用手使劲卡住。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 掐断qiā duànto cut off; to pinch off掐 = qiā
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 掐 mean?
掐 (qiā) means to pinch or nip with the fingernails; to clutch; to cut off (a stem, a call, etc.).
How do you pronounce 掐?
It is pronounced qiā.
What parts is 掐 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 臽 (small pit (said to show a person above a pit)), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰扌臽（现代字形拆分，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–2 扌，3–10 臽）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 掐 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 掐?
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 掐?
Common ones are 掐断. The reading of 掐 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.