Definitions

niǔ (verb) to twist; to turn; to wring
niǔ (verb) to sprain
niǔ (verb) to swing (one's hips)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character "扭", in its traditional form, consists of the hand radical (扌) on the left, indicating an action performed by hand, and the component "丑" on the right, which historically depicted a twisted hand or gesture and serves primarily as a phonetic element. This structure directly informs its core meaning of using the hand to twist, turn, or wrench something physically. Over time, its application broadened from describing literal physical manipulation to encompassing more abstract or figurative forms of distortion and deviation. Thus, it came to denote the act of turning one's body, as in "扭頭", or seizing and grappling with an opponent, and further extended to describe forcing a situation away from its natural course, embodying concepts of perversion, stubbornness, or affected mannerisms, as seen in terms like "扭轉" or "彆扭". This semantic expansion reflects a logical progression from a concrete manual action to a wider metaphorical sense of altering a state or behavior.

Example Sentences Hide

开了瓶盖。

Wǒ niǔ kāi le píng gài.

I twisted open the bottle cap.

伤了手腕。

Tā niǔ shāng le shǒu wàn.

He sprained his wrist.

动着跳舞。

Tā niǔ dòng zhe tiào wǔ.

She dances with twisting movements.

我们必须转这个趋势。

Wǒmen bìxū niǔ zhuǎn zhège qūshì.

We must reverse this trend.

他们的关系很别

Tāmen de guānxì hěn bièniu.

Their relationship is very awkward.

两个孩子在打嬉戏。

Liǎng gè háizi zài niǔ dǎ xīxì.

Two children are wrestling and playing.

捏地表达了自己的意见。

Tā niǔnie de biǎodá le zìjǐ de yìjiàn.

She expressed her opinion coyly.

在激烈的辩论中,他巧妙转了话题。

Zài jīliè de biànlùn zhōng, tā qiǎomiào niǔ zhuǎn le huàtí.

In the heated debate, he skillfully shifted the topic.