剖 (pōu): to cut open

Meanings

1 to cut open
2 to dissect
3 to analyze
4 to split open

Characters

剖

pōu

to cut open; to dissect; to analyze

Examples

HSK 7-9

医生剖开腹部，取出了肿瘤。

Yīshēng pōukāi fùbù, qǔchū le zhǒngliú.

The doctor cut open the abdomen and removed the tumor.

HSK 7-9

这篇文章剖析了问题的根源。

Zhè piān wénzhāng pōuxī le wèntí de gēnyuán.

This article analyzes the root causes of the problem.

Tips

usage

剖 often appears in compounds: 剖析 (pōuxī, to analyze/dissect), 解剖 (jiěpōu, anatomy/dissection), 剖面 (pōumiàn, cross-section). Alone it emphasizes the cutting action.

Components

radical

刂 dāo

knife (right-side form of 刀)

Right-side knife radical, the standing form of 刀. The indexing radical, supplying the meaning: 剖 is to cut open, dissect, lay something bare with a blade. Family of cutting verbs: 切 slice, 割 cut, 刺 stab, 划 cut a line. The two-stroke vertical 刂 always sits on the right; left-side 刀 keeps its full shape.

phonetic

咅 pǒu

spit out

Left 咅 is an archaic graph reading pǒu - originally a mouth spitting something out - kept alive almost solely as the phonetic in this character. It supplies the sound for 剖 (pōu) with only a tone shift. Same phonetic appears in 部 section, 倍 double, 培 cultivate, 陪 accompany - recognizing it unlocks a whole reading-family at once.