King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “steer”

掌舵
zhǎng duò
to steer (a ship)

The closest CC-CEDICT match for steer is 掌舵 (zhǎng duò), defined as: to steer (a ship).

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

掌 zhǎng
in charge; the palm of the hand, the sole of the foot
radical 64 ⼿ · 12 strokes
舵 duò
helm, rudder
radical 137 ⾈ · 11 strokes

Other Chinese words for “steer”

WordPinyinMeaning
操cāoto grasp; to hold
操舵cāo duòto steer (a vessel); to hold the rudder
驾驭 (駕馭)jià yùto urge on (of horse); to drive
把舵bǎ duòto hold the rudder; to hold (to take, to be at) the helm
操航cāo hángto take the helm; to steer (a ship)

Related words

Other words that share a character with 掌舵.

WordPinyinMeaning
掌握zhǎng wòto grasp (often fig.); to control
掌控zhǎng kòngto control; in control of
掌声 (掌聲)zhǎng shēngapplause; 阵 (zhèn)
掌管zhǎng guǎnin charge of; to control
鼓掌gǔ zhǎngto applaud; to clap
掌权 (掌權)zhǎng quánto wield (political etc) power; be in power
舵手duò shǒuhelmsman
船舵chuán duòrudder; helm of a ship

See also: Japanese symbol for “steer”.

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.

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