掰

bāi

to break off or break open sth with one's hands

(fig.) to break off (a relationship)

hand (手) + split (分) + hand (手) = snap apart with both hands

Two hands pulling in opposite directions, with 分 (to separate) sandwiched between them — the structure enacts the action. The character almost looks like a tug-of-war.

手+分+手→掰
分To divideSemantic
手 (left)HandSemantic
手 (right)HandSemantic

他把玉米掰成两半。

tā bǎ yù mi bāi chéng liǎng bàn。

He broke the corn in half with his hands.

他们吵了很多次,最后还是掰了。

tā men chǎo le hěn duō cì, zuì hòu hái shi bāi le。

They argued many times and finally broke up.

Words with 掰

掰开

bāi kāi

to pull apart

鸡掰

jī bāi

(slang) to fuck around with; (used as an intensifier) fucking; fucked up

闹掰

nào bāi

(dialect) to have a falling-out (with sb)

假掰

gēi bāi

(Tw) affected; pretentious; to put on a display of histrionics (from Taiwanese, Tai-lo pr. [ké-pai])

分星掰两

fēn xīng bāi liǎng

punctilious

掰弯

bāi wān

to bend

掰手腕

bāi shǒu wàn

arm wrestling

掰扯

bāi che

to debate

掰直

bāi zhí

to straighten

掰腕子

bāi wàn zi

arm wrestling

掰开揉碎

bāi kāi róu suì

lit. to pull apart and knead to a pulp

掰掰

bāi bāi

bye-bye (loanword) (Tw)

More characters with 手

掣搿摩摹掱搴