窄

narrow / narrow-minded / badly off

窄 = 乍 + 穴 : Mnemonic symbol: a narrow slit of some kind. James II of England (zh) is painting cave paintings (穴) on the walls of the airplane's living room (ai3). He is using a special technique: he pushes the hair of his Mohawk haircut (乍) through a narrow slit (窄) so that when he applies the paint to his hair (to use it as a brush) he doesn't accidentally paint his face.

窄 character breakdown

窄
- 乍
- 穴
  - 八
    - 丿
    - ㇏
  - 宀
    - 丶
    - 冖

乍

zhà = zh + a4

at first / suddenly / abruptly / to spread / (of hair) to stand on end / bristling

Mnemonic symbol: a Mohawk haircut. It fits the hair "to stand on end" and the character itself looks like a head with a Mohawk haircut facing towards the left.

James II of England (zh) tries out a Mohawk haircut (乍) in the ashram's bathroom (a4).

穴

xué = xu + e2

cave / cavity / hole / acupuncture point / Taiwan pr. [xue4]

穴 = 八 + 宀 : Xu Xian presents his newest piece of art: Cave paintings painted on a gigantic eight-ball. Somehow he managed to set it up inside the elevators entrance. For his great artistic achievement, he gained a honorary doctor, and proudly wears his hard earned graduation cap.

Characters with 窄 as component

榨

zhà = zh + a4

to press / to extract (juice) / device for extracting juice, oils etc

榨 = 木 + 窄 : James II of England (zh) wants to make his own essential oil (榨), so he presses (榨) a Christmas tree (木) through a narrow slit (窄) in the ashram's bathroom (a4).

榨

搾

zhà = zh + a4

variant of 榨[zha4] / to press / to extract (juice)

醡

zhà = zh + a4

press for extracting wine