掠 (lüè) is a Chinese character meaning “to plunder”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 京 (capital city), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to plunder; to sweep past”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
扌 + 京
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分，经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（扌3画 + 京8画 = 11画）；说文新附：掠，夺取也。从手京声
Memory aid
A hand (扌) sweeping through the capital (京), grabbing whatever it can — that is plundering.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 掠夺lüè duóto plunder; to rob掠 = lüè
- 掠过lüè guòto sweep past; to skim over掠 = lüè
Go deeper
All readings
to plunder; to sweep past
to plunder; to rob; to sweep past; to brush lightly over
抢夺；也指轻轻擦过或很快地经过。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 掠夺lüè duóto plunder; to rob掠 = lüè
- 掠过lüè guòto sweep past; to skim over掠 = lüè
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 掠 mean?
掠 (lüè) means to plunder; to rob; to sweep past; to brush lightly over.
How do you pronounce 掠?
It is pronounced lüè.
What parts is 掠 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 京 (capital city), 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 + 京8画 = 11画）；说文新附：掠，夺取也。从手京声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 掠 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 掠?
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 掠?
Common ones are 掠夺 and 掠过. The reading of 掠 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.