眨 (zhǎ) is a Chinese character meaning “to blink”. It is written from 目 (eye) and 乏 (lacking; short of), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to blink”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
目 + 乏
Left–right structure
Structure from: ids-decomposition (核对 hanzi-writer-data 笔画：目 5 画 + 乏 4 画 = 9 画)
Memory aid
An eye (目) that runs short (乏) of light for one instant — the lid drops and lifts. That flicker is a blink.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 眨眼zhǎ yǎnto blink; in the blink of an eye眨 = zhǎspoken aszhá yǎn
Go deeper
All readings
to blink
to blink; to wink (the eyes)
眼皮很快地一开一合。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 眨眼zhǎ yǎnto blink; in the blink of an eye眨 = zhǎspoken aszhá yǎn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 眨 mean?
眨 (zhǎ) means to blink; to wink (the eyes).
How do you pronounce 眨?
It is pronounced zhǎ.
What parts is 眨 made of?
目 (eye) and 乏 (lacking; short of), side by side. The recorded source is: ids-decomposition (核对 hanzi-writer-data 笔画：目 5 画 + 乏 4 画 = 9 画). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 眨 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 眨?
目. 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 眨?
Common ones are 眨眼. The reading of 眨 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.