手劲 (shǒu jìn) — grip strength; muscular strength of the hand

Definition

noun
grip strengthmuscular strength of the hand

Examples

  • 手劲，。
    Tā shǒu jìn hěn dà, néng dān shǒu tí qǐ yì tǒng shuǐ.
    He has strong hand strength; he can lift a bucket of water with one hand.
  • 手劲。
    Wǒ de zuǒ shǒu shǒu jìn bǐ yòu shǒu xiǎo yì xiē.
    My left hand is a bit weaker than my right hand in grip strength.
  • 手劲。
    Bān zhè zhǒng zhòng dōng xī xū yào shǒu jìn gòu dà cái xíng.
    Moving this kind of heavy stuff requires enough hand strength.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

手shǒuhand
劲jìnstrength

手 is the hand and 劲 is strength, giving grip strength.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 勁; 劲 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
巠
巠jīng勁jìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 勁 pairs 力, meaning strength, with 巠, which gives the sound; the simplified 劲 is a shorthand and its parts are not the original ones.

Open 劲 →

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