拧

• Pinyin: níng
• Hanzi breakdown: 拧 = 扌 (hand) + 宁 (phonetic component, also suggesting concentration) — to apply a concentrated twisting force with the hand

Meaning

To twist; to wring; to turn (a knob or tap); to pinch and twist.

Describes a twisting or wringing motion. 拧螺丝 (tighten a screw), 拧毛巾 (wring out a towel), 拧开瓶盖 (unscrew a bottle cap), 拧水龙头 (turn a tap). Also used figuratively: 拧着来 (act contrary/stubbornly — lit. go in the opposite twisting direction), 心里拧成一团 (heart twisted into a knot — deeply conflicted). Note: 拧 (níng) = to twist tightly; 拧 (nǐng) = to act contrary/stubbornly.

Examples

1. 她拧开水龙头，发现水流细如线，这才意识到楼上施工已经影响了整栋楼的水压。 She turned on the faucet and found the water was coming out in a thin stream; only then did she realize construction upstairs had affected the water pressure in the whole building.
2. 工人用力拧紧了最后一颗螺丝，确保机器的各个部件在高强度运转中不会松动或脱落。 The worker tightened the last screw with all his strength to make sure none of the machine’s parts would loosen or fall off during high-intensity operation.
3. 他拧干湿透的外套，挂在窗边晾晒，尽管已是深夜，他仍不打算休息。 He wrung out his soaked coat and hung it by the window to dry; even though it was already late at night, he still didn’t plan to rest.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday life, mechanics, manual work

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 维修人员仔细检查了管道接口，发现是连接处的螺母没有拧紧，导致水管持续渗漏，随后用扳手将其牢固地拧紧。(The maintenance worker carefully inspected the pipe joint and found that the nut at the connection had not been tightened enough, causing the pipe to continuously leak — he then secured it firmly with a wrench.)
• 急救培训中教导学员，在处理出血伤口时可以用布条拧成绳状，临时用作止血带，为伤者争取送医时间。(In first-aid training, trainees are taught that when dealing with a bleeding wound, a strip of cloth can be twisted into a rope shape and temporarily used as a tourniquet to buy time for getting the injured person to hospital.)

Don't Say

• 将'拧'用于非扭转类的手部动作 — 拧 specifically involves a twisting or wringing motion; for gripping without twisting, use 抓 (grasp) or 握 (hold); for pressing without twisting, use 按 (press)

Origin & History

拧 = 扌 (hand radical) + 宁 (ning, phonetic) — to twist with the hand

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal