p8nda
p8nda BETA
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蹬

dēng
verb HSK 7-9 #12,144

Meanings

  1. 1 to pedal
  2. 2 to step on
  3. 3 to kick (with the foot)

Examples

HSK 3
她蹬了他一脚。
Tā dēng le tā yì jiǎo.
She kicked him once.
HSK 6
他使劲蹬自行车上坡。
Tā shǐjìn dēng zìxíngchē shàngpō.
He pedaled hard to ride the bike uphill.
HSK 7-9
蹬着梯子爬上去。
Dēng zhe tīzi pá shàngqù.
Step on the ladder and climb up.

Tips

usage
蹬 specifically means pushing with the foot or leg. Most commonly used for pedaling a bicycle (蹬自行车) or stepping on something to push off.
memory
The 足 (foot) radical tells you this is a foot action. Think of your foot pressing down on a pedal - 蹬!

Components

radical
足 zú
foot
Left foot radical - the indexing radical, anchoring 蹬 in the kicking/stepping family alongside 踩 (step on), 跑 (run), 跳 (jump), 踢 (kick). 足 originally depicted the whole leg, knee down to toes; here it tells you the action is done with the foot.
phonetic
登 dēng
to climb; ascend (here phonetic)
Right 登 supplies the sound directly - dēng with no drift - and adds a useful semantic echo, since climbing also involves pushing down with the foot. Same phonetic feeds 灯 (lamp), 凳 (stool, something you step up to), 瞪 (stare wide-eyed), all in the dēng/dèng family.

Stroke Order

蹬 dēng