Dictionary › 牵

牵

qiān

Old HSK 5 HSK 3.0 character level 6 Character Traditional 牽

牵 (qiān) means "to lead along (by the hand)". It is an HSK 3.0 level 6 word, and was HSK 5 in the old six-level list.

What 牵 means

1. to lead along
2. to pull (an animal on a tether)
3. bound formto involve
4. to draw in

Example sentences

• 我们牵过一次手。
  Wǒmen qiān guo yīcì shǒu.
  We held hands, once.
• 我可以牵着你的手吗？
  Wǒ kěyǐ qiānzhe nǐ de shǒu ma?
  May I hold your hand?
• 这对夫妻手牵手走路。
  Zhè duì fūqī shǒuqiānshǒu zǒulù.
  The couple is walking hand in hand.
• 我没想要让你牵扯进来。
  I didn't mean to involve you.
• 我不想被牵扯到这件事里。
  Wǒ bù xiǎng bèi qiānchě dào zhè jiàn shì lǐ.
  I don't want to be involved in that matter.
• 你看似对这世间已了无牵挂。
  Nǐ kànsì duì zhè shìjiān yǐ le wú qiānguà.
  You look as if you don't have a care in the world.

Words starting with 牵

• 牵扯qiān chěto involve; to implicate; to be interrelated
• 牵制qiān zhìto control; to curb; to restrict
• 牵挂qiān guàto worry about; to be concerned about
• 牵连qiān liánto implicate; implicated; to link together
• 牵涉qiān shèto involve; implicated
• 牵动qiān dòngto affect; to produce a change in sth
• 牵引qiān yǐnto pull; to draw (a cart); to tow
• 牵头qiān tóuto lead (an animal by the head); to take the lead; to coordinate (a combined operation)
• 牵强qiān qiǎngfar-fetched; implausible (chain of reasoning)
• 牵线qiān xiànto pull strings; to manipulate (a puppet); to control from behind the scene
• 牵肠挂肚qiān cháng guà dùdeeply worried (idiom); to feel anxious
• 牵绊qiān bànto bind; to yoke; to impede
• 牵牛qiān niúmorning glory (Pharbitis nil)
• 牵就qiān jiùto concede; to give up
• 牵心qiān xīnto worry; concerned
• 牵手qiān shǒuto hold hands
• 牵扶qiān fúto lead
• 牵累qiān lěito weigh down; to trouble; to implicate (sb)
• 牵记qiān jìto feel anxious about sth; unable to stop thinking about sth; to miss
• 牵引力qiān yǐn lìmotive force; traction
• 牵引车qiān yǐn chētractor unit; tractor truck; prime mover
• 牵涉到qiān shè dàoto involve; to drag in
• 牵牛属qiān niú shǔPharbitis, genus of herbaceous plants including Morning glory 牵牛 (Pharbitis nil)
• 牵牛星Qiān niú xīngAltair (star); Cowherd of the folk tale Cowherd and Weaving maid 牛郎织女

Words containing 牵

• 顺手牵羊shùn shǒu qiān yánglit. to lead away a goat while passing by (idiom); fig. to opportunistically pocket sb's…
• 拘牵jū qiānrestrained; confined
• 手牵手shǒu qiān shǒuhand in hand
• 拖牵索道tuō qiān suǒ dàoanchor lift (ski-lift)
• 无牵无挂wú qiān wú guà(idiom) unburdened by obligations or attachments; carefree
• 扒屋牵牛bā wū qiān niúto sack the home and lead off the cattle (proverb); to strip of everything
• 魂牵梦萦hún qiān mèng yíng(idiom) to miss very much; to yearn for
• 别人牵驴你拔橛子bié ren qiān lǘ nǐ bá jué zilit. someone else stole the donkey; you only pulled up the stake it was tethered to…
• 是骡子是马，牵出来遛遛shì luó zi shì mǎ , qiān chū lai liù liulit. to see whether it's a mule or a horse, take it out for a walk (idiom)…
• 魂牵梦绕hún qiān mèng ràosee 魂牵梦萦
• 人家牵驴你拔橛rén jiā qiān lǘ nǐ bá juésee 别人牵驴你拔橛子

Characters built on 牛

These share the phonetic component 牛 (niú), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 件jiànitem; component; classifier for events, things, clothes etc
• 犍jiānbullock; castrated bull; to castrate livestock
• 牮jiànto prop up

Characters that look like 牵

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 奉fèngto offer (tribute); to present respectfully (to superior, ancestor, deity etc); to esteem
• 奏zòuto play music; to achieve; to present a memorial to the emperor (old)
• 拳quánfist; boxing
• 奔bēnto hurry; to rush; to run quickly
• 耷dā(literary) big ears; (bound form) to droop
• 劵juànold variant of 倦

Sounds the same

Read qiān, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 铅lead (chemistry)
• 千thousand
• 签to sign one's name; to write brief comments on a document…
• 谦modest
• 迁to move; to shift; to change (a position or location etc)
• 骞(literary) to hold high
• 搴to seize; to pull; to hold up the hem of clothes
• 褰to lift (clothes, sheets); lower garments
• 悭stingy
• 仟thousand (banker's anti-fraud numeral)
• 芊green; luxuriant growth
• 钎a drill (for boring through rock)

Where 牵 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Leading, Signing & Future Prospects (HSK 5), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 5 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read qiān correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.