弹
彈dàn
#631 most
frequent character
crossball, bullet, shot, shell
Character breakdown
Source: Make Me a Hanzi.
弹 has 弓 bow as picture part and 单 dān as sound part. It first meant a bow for shooting pellets. Read dàn, it grew to pellet or bullet, then bomb. Read tán, it grew to shoot, pluck a string, and hit.
Ask DeepSeek
Your word lists
Sign in to add this word to your private lists.