捏
niē · HSK 7
to hold between the thumb and fingers
🤏 扌 hand radical = the fingers that pinch, mold, and hold
The 扌 hand component drives the meaning: niē is what fingers do when they grip something small. Note 捏造 niēzào, literally pinch-make, means to fabricate or make up a story.
捏 — hand radical 扌 + 㘝 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 gives the meaning, since 捏 describes actions done with the fingers — pinching, squeezing, or molding soft material like clay. The right side 㘝 supplies the sound. By extension, 捏 also means to fabricate or make up (as in 捏造).