What 蠖 means
It names the inchworm, a caterpillar that moves by folding its body. 尺蠖 names the inchworm, which bunches up and then stretches forward. The 《易經》 (Book of Changes), a Chinese classic on divination, pairs this bend with a dormant dragon and snake: retreat can preserve future movement. 《說文解字》, an old Chinese dictionary, records the insect sense. 蠖屈 means bending before extending; 蠖濩 means withdrawal.
What does 蠖 mean if someone sends it alone?
A lone character does not reveal which word the sender intends. Ask whether they mean the insect, 蠖屈, or a phrase from 《易經》.
Literary and specialized; clearest in compounds and classical writing.
蠖屈 means retreat to extend later, not simple surrender.
Questions people ask
1Why does 蠖 show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type 蠖
蠖\8816Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.