HSK · Level 13
135 words
Chinese word
割
Pronunciation
Pinyingē
Meaning
- verbcut
Example
他把橘子割成两半。tā bǎ jú zi gē chéng liǎng bàn
He cut the orange in half.
More examples
会后，他把蛋糕割成了八块，大家一起吃。huì hòu tā bǎ dàn gāo gē chéng le bā kuài dà jiā yì qǐ chī
After the meeting, he cut the cake into eight pieces, and everyone ate together.
Core concept
One continuous thing is separated along a boundary so that its parts can be handled or allocated separately.
Common phrases
割成两半gē chéng liǎng bàn
cut in half
割掉gē diào
cut off
割断gē duàn
sever
Similar words
切qiè: Cut off part of something with a kitchen knife or other knife.
剪jiǎn: Cut something into smaller pieces or shapes with scissors.
分fēn: Divide a whole into several separate parts.
Definition in Chinese
用刀或类似利器把东西切开，分成若干部分；也可引申为把整体按一定标准分开或分配。yòng dāo huò lèi sì lì qì bǎ dōng xī qiē kāi fēn chéng ruò gān bù fèn yě kě yǐn shēn wèi bǎ zhéng tǐ àn yí dìng biāo zhǔn fēn kāi huò fēn pèi
Word origin
In the character 割 (gē, "cut"), 害 (hài, "harm") provides the approximate pronunciation while 刂 (dāo, "knife radical") signals the cutting meaning.
Usage tips
- For mathematical division, Chinese normally uses 除以 (chú yǐ, "divide by") rather than 割 (gē, "cut"), keeping 割 associated with practical separation.