Chinese symbol for “pull”
拉
lā
to pull; to play (a bowed instrument); to drag; to draw
The closest CC-CEDICT match for pull is 拉 (lā), defined as: to pull; to play (a bowed instrument); to drag; to draw; to chat; (coll.) to empty one's bowels.
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 “pull”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 扯 | chě | to pull; to tear |
| 牵引 (牽引) | qiān yǐn | to pull; to draw (a cart); to tow |
| 拽 | zhuài | to pull; to tug at (sth) |
| 拉动 (拉動) | lā dòng | to pull; (fig.) to stimulate (economic activity) |
| 掣 | chè | to pull; to draw |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 拉.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 卡拉 | kǎ lā | karaoke; (Tw) (of chicken etc) crispy, deep-fried |
| 阿拉 | ā lā | (Wu dialect) I; me; my; we; us; our |
| 克拉 | kè lā | carat (mass) (loanword) |
| 拉丁 | lā dīng | Latin; (in former times) to press-gang |
| 拉拉 | lā lā | (slang) lesbian; (coll.) Labrador retriever |
| 马拉松 (馬拉松) | mǎ lā sōng | (loanword) marathon |
See also: Japanese symbol for “pull”.
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.