Chinese word

削

Pronunciation

Pinyinxiāo

Meaning

  • verbpeel

Example

妈妈在用刀削苹果。mā mā zài yòng dāo xiāo píng guǒ

Mom is peeling an apple with a knife.

Illustration for 削 (peel)

More examples

公司不得不削减成本来维持运营。gōng sī bù dé bù xuē jiǎn chéng běn lái wéi chí yùn yíng

The company had to reduce costs to maintain operations.

Core concept

A cutting-away motion trims an object from the outside or trims an amount down from its full size or degree.

Common phrases

  • 削减成本xuē jiǎn chéng běn

    reduce costs

  • 削减支出xuē jiǎn zhī chū

    reduce spending

  • 削弱信心xuē ruò xìn xīn

    weaken confidence

Similar words

剥bō: Remove the outer skin or shell from something.
刮guā: Scrape away material stuck to a hard surface by rubbing it.
削减xuē jiǎn: Reduce a quantity, size, or level.

Definition in Chinese

用刀或利器去掉物体表面的一层，也可引申为在数量或程度上减少、删去。yòng dāo huò lì qì qù diào wù tǐ biǎo miàn de yì céng yě kě yǐn shēn wèi zài shù liàng huò chéng dù shàng jián shǎo shān qù

Word origin

In 削 (xiāo, "to peel or shave"), 刂 (dāo, "knife") + 肖 (xiāo, "sound element") combines a cutting-related component with one that helps mark the sound, matching the word's original physical sense.

Usage tips

  • English often uses separate verbs for peeling, shaving, and cutting back, while Chinese connects these uses through one central trimming idea and lets the context show which sense is intended.

Other meanings

  • shaveverb
  • reduceverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word