抹 (mǒ): to smear; to apply (cream, pain…

Meanings

1 to smear; to apply (cream, paint, ointment)
2 to wipe across; to swipe
3 to erase; to cross out; to blot out
4 classifier for wisps of cloud, beams of light, a touch of color

Characters

抹

mǒ

to smear; to wipe across; to erase

Examples

她在脸上抹了一层防晒霜。

Tā zài liǎn shàng mǒ le yī céng fángshàishuāng.

She applied a layer of sunscreen on her face.

这段记忆无法抹去。

Zhè duàn jìyì wúfǎ mǒ qù.

This memory cannot be erased.

天边挂着一抹晚霞。

Tiānbiān guà zhe yī mǒ wǎnxiá.

A wisp of evening cloud hung at the horizon.

Tips

usage

Default reading mǒ covers all the main senses — smearing on (cream, makeup), swiping across (a hand, a brush), erasing (a memory, a name). Showpiece compounds: 涂抹 (apply), 抹黑 (smear someone's reputation), 抹杀 (obliterate), 抹茶 (matcha — literally 'rubbed tea').

register

Two other readings split off for narrow uses. 抹 (first tone) is the colloquial 'wipe down a surface' — locked to 抹布 (cleaning rag), 抹桌子 (wipe the table). 抹 (fourth tone) is the masonry word — 抹墙 (to plaster a wall), 抹平 (to smooth out), and the idiom 拐弯抹角 (to beat around the bush). All other uses are mǒ.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form)

The hand radical anchors the meaning — wiping, smearing, applying cream are all done with a flat sweeping hand-motion. Same radical groups 擦 (rub), 涂 (smear), 拭 (wipe clean), 揉 (knead). Hand-based applying-and-removing actions all carry 扌.

phonetic

末 mò

end; tip (here phonetic)

Right side 末 provides the sound (mò → mǒ with tone shift). 末 means 'tip, end, the very last bit,' a faint semantic echo with 'wiping' (cleaning down to the last trace), but the role is primarily phonetic. Same phonetic in 沫 (foam), 茉 (jasmine), 寞 (lonely).