Definitions

qiān short slender pointed piece of metal, bamboo etc; skewer; prod used to extract samples from sacks of grain etc; (dialect) to stick in; to bolt (a door); to arrange (flowers in a vase); to graft (tree); to pedicure; to peel (an apple etc)

Etymology phono-semantic

hand

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character "扦" is structured with the hand radical (扌) on the left and the phonetic component "千" on the right, which cues its pronunciation and links it to manual operations. Its etymology points to actions involving insertion or piercing, and historically it has denoted both the verb for such actions and the nouns for implements like skewers or sampling tools. Over time, its semantic range extended from general insertion to specific objects, including bamboo or metal rods used for culinary or diagnostic purposes.