刀 (dāo): knife

Measure Word

一把刀 bǎ

Meanings

1 knife
2 blade
3 sword

Characters

刀

dāo

knife; blade

A pictograph of a knife — also serves as a radical (刂) in many cutting-related characters.

Examples

这把刀很锋利。

Zhè bǎ dāo hěn fēnglì.

This knife is very sharp.

厨房里有好几把刀。

Chúfáng lǐ yǒu hǎojǐ bǎ dāo.

There are several knives in the kitchen.

小心用刀。

Xiǎoxīn yòng dāo.

Be careful using the knife.

Tips

history

刀 is one of the simplest Chinese characters and also a radical (刂) that appears in many knife-related characters: 切 (to cut), 刻 (to carve), 剪 (scissors), 割 (to slice).

culture

The Chinese kitchen traditionally uses one large cleaver (菜刀) for nearly all cutting tasks — chopping vegetables, slicing meat, and even crushing garlic.

Components

pictograph

刀 dāo

knife; blade

A pictograph of a curved blade with handle — two strokes capture the knife shape directly. Oracle bone forms show a clear single-edged blade with the handle to the right. As Kangxi radical #18 it is highly productive, reduced to 刂 on the right side of compounds (利 sharp, 切 cut, 刻 carve). Self-radical char — single component, no further decomposition.

Radical

Knife Kangxi #18

Highly productive radical. A reliable semantic clue for cutting, dividing, and decisive action: 分, 切, 刻, 剪, 割, 划, 利, 刑. The right-side reduction 刂 dominates in compounds, while the standalone 刀 keeps its full pictographic blade.

Forms

刀 dāo

Default 11 characters

刂 lìdāopáng

Right 51 characters