劈 (pī): to chop; to split; to cleave

Meanings

1 to chop; to split; to cleave
2 to strike (of lightning)
3 right at; straight against (the face, head)

Characters

劈

pī

to chop; to split

Examples

他用斧头劈柴。

Tā yòng fǔtou pī chái.

He's chopping firewood with an axe.

一道闪电劈中了那棵树。

Yí dào shǎndiàn pī zhòng le nà kē shù.

A bolt of lightning struck that tree.

他一掌劈下去，木板断了。

Tā yì zhǎng pī xiàqù, mùbǎn duàn le.

He chopped down with one palm and the board snapped.

Tips

mistakes

劈 has two readings. The common pī is a forceful downward chop or a lightning strike: 劈柴 (to chop firewood, as an action), 劈开 (to split open), 劈头盖脸 (full in the face). The pǐ reading means to divide or spread apart: 劈腿, 劈叉.

Components

radical

刀 dāo

knife; blade

Bottom knife radical, the indexing radical in its full standalone form. A pictograph of a curved blade. It anchors 劈 in the cutting family with 剁, 砍, 切. 劈 specifically means splitting with a downward stroke.

phonetic

辟 pì

to open up; ruler

Top thirteen strokes form 辟, originally a sovereign decreeing punishment, with the side meaning 'to open up, split open' as in 开辟. It supplies the sound, shifted to pī. The same phonetic appears in 譬, 僻, 避. The 'splitting open' sense carries directly into 劈.