Chinese word

切

Pronunciation

Pinyinqiē

Meaning

  • verbcut

Example

我把面包切好了，给你。wǒ bǎ miàn bāo qiē hǎo le gěi nǐ

I cut the bread and got it ready for you. Here you go.

Illustration for 切 (cut)

More examples

她把西瓜切成了两半，大家一起吃。tā bǎ xī guā qiē chéng le liǎng bàn dà jiā yì qǐ chī

She cut the watermelon into two halves, and everyone ate it together.

Core concept

A sharp edge passes through a larger whole, creating a boundary or removing one part from another.

Common phrases

  • 切菜qiē cài

    cut vegetables

  • 切肉qiē ròu

    cut meat

  • 切成小块qiē chéng xiǎo kuài

    cut into small chunks

Similar words

剪jiǎn: Using scissors to cut paper, hair, cloth, or other flexible material.
砍kǎn: Cutting something down or off with an axe or a large knife and strong force.
撕sī: Pulling something apart with the hands after gripping it.

Definition in Chinese

用刀或其他利器把物体分成两部分，或把一部分切下、切开；也指把食物切成片、丝、块等。yòng dāo huò qí tā lì qì bǎ wù tǐ fēn chéng liǎng bù fèn huò bǎ yí bù fèn qiē xià qiē kāi yě zhǐ bǎ shí wù qiē chéng piàn sī kuài děng

Word origin

The character 切 (qiē, "to cut") uses 刀 (dāo, "knife") to signal a blade action and 七 (qī, "seven") mainly to supply the sound, not the number's meaning.

Usage tips

  • English speakers may choose different verbs such as chop or slice according to the result, while Chinese commonly keeps this general kitchen verb and adds words to specify the shape or manner.

Other meanings

  • sliceverb
  • cut offverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word