挽

• Pinyin: wǎn
• Hanzi breakdown: 挽 = 扌(hand) + 免 (to escape, phonetic component)

Meaning

To pull; to draw back; to roll up; to support by holding the arm. A versatile verb suggesting a pulling or gathering motion.

Used in a range of contexts: literally pulling a cart or rolling up sleeves; metaphorically pulling something back from the brink (retrieving a bad situation). Common in classical-influenced or formal writing. In everyday modern speech it often appears in compounds like 挽回 and 挽救.

Examples

1. 他挽起袖子，准备大干一场。 He rolled up his sleeves, ready to get stuck in.
2. 两位老人挽着手，在公园里缓缓散步。 The two elderly people walked slowly through the park arm in arm.
3. 事已至此，再多的解释也挽不回她的信任了。 Things have reached this point — no amount of explanation can win back her trust.

Usage Guide

Context: literary, everyday, formal

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 他挽着母亲的手臂走进了大厅。(He walked into the hall with his arm linked through his mother's.)
• 他挽起裤腿趟过了小溪。(He rolled up his trouser legs and waded across the stream.)

Don't Say

• 用挽代替拉在机械或物理拉力的场景中 — for pulling heavy objects use 拉 or 拖; 挽 implies a more controlled, intimate or figurative draw

Origin & History

Pictographic/ideographic character. 挽 combines 扌(hand radical) with 免 (to escape, phonetic). The hand action of pulling or drawing back is central to its meaning.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal