掩
Tap the pinyin to hear it
to cover up; to conceal; to close (a door, book etc); (coll.) to get (one's fingers etc) caught when closing a door or lid; (literary) to launch a surprise attack
- HSK 3.0
- Level 7–9
- Old HSK
- Level 6
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- 手 +8
- Structure
- Left–right 左右
- Traditional
- 掩
- Common rank
- #2,217
- Unicode
- U+63A9
Sound it out + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 掩 is formed
Phono-semantic compound (形声字)
扌 meaning “hand” + 奄 sound ()
Components 扌 奄
How to remember it
conceal · Heisig RSH #1485
fingers + hang glider
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 掩
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 兵来将挡，水来土掩 | counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call fo… | |
| 掩人耳目 | to fool people (idiom); to pull the wool over people's eyes | |
| 不加掩饰 | undisguised | |
| 掩样法 | illusion | |
| 掩体 | bunker (military) | |
| 东掩西遮 | to cover up the truth on all sides (idiom) | |
| 掩面而泣 | to bury one's head in one's hands and weep (idiom) | |
| 掩耳 | to refuse to listen | |
| 掩杀 | to make a surprise attack; to pounce on (an enemy) | |
| 掩护 | to screen; to shield; to cover; protection; cover; CL:面[mian4] | |
| 掩藏 | hidden; covered; concealed | |
| 掩码 | (computing) mask | |
| 掩耳盗铃 | lit. to cover one's ears whilst stealing a bell; to deceive oneself; to bury one's head in… | |
| 虚掩 | to partially obscure; (of a door, gate or window) slightly open; ajar; not fully shut; unl… | |
| 掩卷 | (literary) to close the book (after a reading session) | |
| 掩盖 | to conceal; to hide behind; to cover up | |
| 后掩蔽 | backward masking | |
| 掩饰 | to cover up; to conceal; to mask; to gloss over | |
| 掩映 | hidden from view; alternately hidden and visible; setting off each other | |
| 瑕不掩瑜 | lit. a blemish does not obscure jade's luster; the pros outweigh the cons (idiom) |
Sound family
Characters sharing the sound component 奄 — compare how they read.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 奄 sound part | to remain, to tarry; feeble | |
| 淹 | to drown, to immerse, to steep | |
| 阉 | eunuch; to castrate | |
| 鹌 | quail; Coturnix coturnix | |
| 崦 | a mountain in Kansu where the sun is supposed to set at night | |
| 俺 | I, me, my (some dialects) | |
| 唵 | to eat with one's hands; used in transliterations | |
| 殗 | sickness; repeated | |
| 埯 | pit, hole; to bury | |
| 罨 | medical compress; fishing net |