to narrow one's eyes

to squint; (dialect) to take a nap

eye (目) + rice (米) = eyes narrowed to slits

The eye radical carries the meaning — eyes narrowed to slits, like squinting in bright light or drifting into a nap. 米 is there for the sound mī, not the meaning.

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EyeSemantic
RicePhonetic

阳光太强,她着眼睛看远处。

yáng guāng tài qiáng,tā mī zhe yǎn jīng kàn yuǎn chù。

The sunlight was too strong, so she narrowed her eyes to look into the distance.

起眼睛,仔细看那行小字。

tā mī qǐ yǎn jīng,zǐ xì kàn nà háng xiǎo zì。

He squinted his eyes to read that line of small text carefully.

Words with 眯

眯缝

mī feng

to squint

眯眼

mī yǎn

to narrow one's eyes (as when smiling or squinting)

眯眯眼

mī mī yǎn

squinty eyes

笑眯眯

xiào mī mī

beaming

色眯眯

sè mī mī

lustful

More characters with 目