Chinese word

消

Pronunciation

Pinyinxiāo

Meaning

  • verberase

Example

请把黑板上的字消掉。qǐng bǎ hēi bǎn shàng de zì xiāo diào

Please erase the characters on the blackboard.

Illustration for 消 (erase)

More examples

我们要尽快消除这些安全隐患。wǒ men yào jǐn kuài xiāo chú zhè xiē ān quán yǐn huàn

We must eliminate these safety hazards as soon as possible.

Core concept

Something thins out until its presence or trace is no longer there, whether it fades naturally or is made to fade.

Common phrases

  • 消除xiāo chú

    eliminate

  • 消耗xiāo hào

    consume

  • 消散xiāo sàn

    dissipate

Similar words

抹去mǒ qù: To wipe away written words, marks, or recorded traces completely.
删除shān chú: To delete unwanted parts of digital data or written text.
消失xiāo shī: To disappear from sight or cease to exist.

Definition in Chinese

事物本身变得不存在或看不见，表示存在或痕迹的消失或减弱。shì wù běn shēn biàn de bù cún zài huò kàn bú jiàn biǎo shì cún zài huò hén jì de xiāo shī huò jiǎn ruò

Word origin

消 (xiāo, "disappear") uses the water radical 氵 (shuǐ, "water") with 肖 (xiāo, "sound cue"), and its meaning centers on dwindling rather than on a particular method of removal.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, the ba construction places the affected item before this verb when its removal is the main event, a useful pattern for describing a cleared surface.

Other meanings

  • disappearverb
  • reduceverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word