掩
Spell out: + =
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
11 strokes
Dict coverage rank #2,217 U+63A9
How 掩 is formed
Phono-semantic compound (形声字)
扌 (semantic, “hand”) + 奄 (phonetic, yǎn)
components: 扌 奄
How to remember it
conceal · Heisig RSH #1485
fingers + hang glider
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Phonetic series: characters sharing the sound component 奄
Siblings built with the same phonetic component 奄 (yǎn) — compare how they read:
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 奄 sound component | yǎn | to remain, to tarry; feeble |
| 淹 | yān | to drown, to immerse, to steep |
| 阉 | yān | eunuch; to castrate |
| 鹌 | ān | quail; Coturnix coturnix |
| 崦 | yān | a mountain in Kansu where the sun is supposed to set at night |
| 俺 | ǎn | I, me, my (some dialects) |
| 唵 | ǎn | to eat with one's hands; used in transliterations |
| 殗 | yè | sickness; repeated |
| 埯 | ǎn | pit, hole; to bury |
| 罨 | yǎn | medical compress; fishing net |
Words containing 掩
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 兵来将挡，水来土掩 | bīng lái jiàng dǎng , shuǐ lái tǔ yǎn | counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call fo… |
| 掩人耳目 | yǎn rén ěr mù | to fool people (idiom); to pull the wool over people's eyes |
| 不加掩饰 | bù jiā yǎn shì | undisguised |
| 掩样法 | yǎn yàng fǎ | illusion |
| 掩体 | yǎn tǐ | bunker (military) |
| 东掩西遮 | dōng yǎn xī zhē | to cover up the truth on all sides (idiom) |
| 掩面而泣 | yǎn miàn ér qì | to bury one's head in one's hands and weep (idiom) |
| 掩耳 | yǎn ěr | to refuse to listen |
| 掩杀 | yǎn shā | to make a surprise attack; to pounce on (an enemy) |
| 掩护 | yǎn hù | to screen; to shield; to cover; protection; cover; CL:面[mian4] |
| 掩藏 | yǎn cáng | hidden; covered; concealed |
| 掩码 | yǎn mǎ | (computing) mask |
| 掩耳盗铃 | yǎn ěr dào líng | lit. to cover one's ears whilst stealing a bell; to deceive oneself; to bury one's head in… |
| 虚掩 | xū yǎn | to partially obscure; (of a door, gate or window) slightly open; ajar; not fully shut; unl… |
| 掩卷 | yǎn juàn | (literary) to close the book (after a reading session) |
| 掩盖 | yǎn gài | to conceal; to hide behind; to cover up |
| 后掩蔽 | hòu yǎn bì | backward masking |
| 掩饰 | yǎn shì | to cover up; to conceal; to mask; to gloss over |
| 掩映 | yǎn yìng | hidden from view; alternately hidden and visible; setting off each other |
| 瑕不掩瑜 | xiá bù yǎn yú | lit. a blemish does not obscure jade's luster; the pros outweigh the cons (idiom) |