抿 (mǐn) · to sip (a small amount of liquid)

Meanings

1 to sip (a small amount of liquid)
2 to press (lips) lightly together
3 to smooth (hair) with a wet brush

Characters

抿

mǐn

to sip / press lips / smooth

Examples

HSK 3

他抿着嘴笑，什么也不说。

Tā mǐn zhe zuǐ xiào, shénme yě bù shuō.

He smiled with pursed lips and said nothing.

HSK 3

出门前她抿了抿头发。

Chūmén qián tā mǐn le mǐn tóufa.

Before going out, she smoothed her hair down.

HSK 5

她抿了一口红酒。

Tā mǐn le yì kǒu hóngjiǔ.

She took a small sip of red wine.

Tips

memory

抿 = 扌 (hand) + 民 (people, phonetic mín). Picture a small, polite hand action: a delicate sip, a barely-parted smile, a quick smoothing of hair. Always something gentle and minimal - not a gulp, not a grin, not a brushing.

usage

抿一口 is the classic collocation for tasting wine, tea, or coffee. 抿嘴 means to press lips together - often translated as 'pursed lips' to convey shyness, restraint, or a small smile.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Side-hand radical on the left - compressed form of 手. Indexes 抿 in the manual-action family with 拉, 抓, 摸. 抿 means to press or purse the lips, or to smooth hair with a wet brush - both are small, controlled hand gestures, so the radical anchors the meaning.

phonetic

民 mín

people; populace

Right side 民 supplies the sound mín exactly. Same phonetic in 泯 to perish, 岷 mountain name, 珉 jade-like stone. 民 contributes no semantic flavour to the pursing/smoothing action; it is a pure sound peg loaned for its convenient rhyme.