拣
jiǎn · HSK 7
to pick
🤏 拣 = 扌hand + 柬 (select) — to sort and pick out by hand
The 扌hand radical sits beside 柬, which itself means to select or sift. Hand plus select gives the act of picking through things and choosing what to keep. The 柬 part also carries the jiǎn sound.
拣 — hand radical 扌 + 柬 jiǎn (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 indicates the meaning relates to actions done with the hand, while 柬 (jiǎn, 'select, letter') supplies the sound. The original sense is to pick out or sort by hand, which extends to today's meanings of choosing, gathering, or picking up.