Chinese symbol for “pierce”
The closest CC-CEDICT match for pierce is 穿 (chuān), defined as: to bore through; to pierce; to perforate; to go through (e.g. a tunnel); to cross (e.g. a street); to thread; to string together; to wear; to put on (clothes, shoes etc.); verb complement indicating thoroughness or completion.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “pierce”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 捅破 | tǒng pò | to pierce; to poke through |
| 穿洞 | chuān dòng | pierce |
| 插 | chā | to insert; stick in |
| 刺 | cì | thorn; sting |
| 纵贯 (縱貫) | zòng guàn | lit. warp string in weaving; fig. vertical or north-south lines |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 穿.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 穿着 (穿著) | chuān zhuó | attire; clothes; dress |
| 穿越 | chuān yuè | to traverse; to pass through; to cross; time travel (as a genre of fiction) |
| 穿过 (穿過) | chuān guò | to pass through |
| 贯穿 (貫穿) | guàn chuān | to run through; a connecting thread from beginning to end |
| 身穿 | shēn chuān | to wear (a garment) |
| 穿梭 | chuān suō | to shuttle back and forth |
See also: Japanese symbol for “pierce”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.