Ideographic: To catch 禽 by hand 扌; 禽 also provides the pronunciationRadical:

meaning for qín:

  • - to captureto apprehend
  • - to capture
  • - to seizeto capture alivehands tied and waiting to be capturedIn order to capture, one must let loose.
  • - to loosen the reins only to grasp them betterstretch a hand and grab it (idiom)
  • - very easy