搂

lǒu

to hug

to embrace; to hold in one's arms

hand (扌) + phonetic (娄) = pull someone into your arms

The hand radical grounds the meaning in a physical embrace or gathering with the arms. 娄 contributes the sound lǒu and plays no semantic role here.

扌+娄→搂

娄A surname character with no direct semantic linkPhonetic

扌HandSemantic

妈妈把孩子搂在怀里，轻轻地哄他睡觉。

māma bǎ háizi lǒu zài huái lǐ , qīng qīng de hǒng tā shuìjiào 。

Mom held the child in her arms, gently coaxing him to sleep.

他走过去搂住她的肩膀，说一切都会好起来的。

tā zǒu guòqù lǒu zhù tā de jiānbǎng , shuō yīqiè dōu huì hǎo qǐlái de 。

He walked over and put his arm around her shoulder, saying everything would be all right.

扒搂

pá lou

to gather together as with a rake

抖搂

dǒu lou

to shake out

搂住

lǒu zhù

to hold in one's arms

搂抱

lǒu bào

to hug

搂钱

lōu qián

(coll.) to grab money