The kanji 把 primarily conveys the idea of "to grasp," "to hold," or "to take hold of" something with one's hand. It implies a physical action of gripping or possessing. It can also extend to metaphorical senses, such as "to control" or "to manage."

・On-yomi (音読み): ha ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): つか(む) - to grasp, to seize

⚫︎ 彼女は花束を把んだ。 Translation: She grasped the bouquet. ⚫︎ 問題を把握する。 Translation: To grasp the problem; to understand the problem. ⚫︎ これは把握力計です。 Translation: This is a grip strength meter.

The kanji 把 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). ⚫︎ The left side is the radical 手 (て, te), meaning "hand." This provides the semantic component, indicating that the character is related to hand actions. ⚫︎ The right side is 巴 (は, ha), which provides the phonetic component, indicating the sound of the character. 巴 originally depicted a coiled snake and later evolved into a sound component. Therefore, 把's formation clearly illustrates the hand action of holding or grasping something.