Chinese word

挽

Pronunciation

Pinyinwǎn

Meaning

  • verbhold back

Example

他试图用话挽住她。tā shì tú yòng huà wǎn zhù tā

He tried to hold her back with words.

Illustration for 挽 (hold back)

More examples

公司终于无法挽留那位专家，他选择了更好的职位。gōng sī zhōng yú wú fǎ wǎn liú nà wèi zhuān jiā tā xuǎn zé le gèng hǎo de zhí wèi

The company finally could not retain that expert, and he chose a better position.

Core concept

A pull against separation, used to keep someone from leaving, regain what has been lost, or reach toward someone who has died through mourning.

Common phrases

  • 挽回面子wǎn huí miàn zi

    save face

  • 挽救局面wǎn jiù jú miàn

    salvage the situation

  • 挽留客户wǎn liú kè hù

    retain customers

Similar words

挽留wǎn liú: Ask or encourage a departing person to stay through speech or manner.
劝留quàn liú: Convince someone to stay where they are.
留住liú zhù: Cause a person or thing to remain in place.
拉住lā zhù: Physically grab someone or something so it cannot move away.

Definition in Chinese

用手或言语使人或事物停止离开或回到原处；引申为挽回名誉或利益，亦用于悼念故人。yòng shǒu huò yán yǔ shǐ rén huò shì wù tíng zhǐ lí kāi huò huí dào yuán chù yǐn shēn wèi wǎn huí míng yù huò lì yì yì yòng yú dào niàn gù rén

Word origin

挽 (wǎn, "hold back") is written with 扌 (shǒu, "hand") plus 免 (miǎn, "avoid"), where 扌 indicates a hand action and 免 mainly supplies the sound rather than the meaning.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, this verb often describes an attempt to keep a person from leaving, while its memorial use is more formal and usually occurs in established expressions.

Other meanings

  • pull backverb
  • recoververb
  • mournverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word