chāi
verb HSK 5 #2,992

Meanings

  1. 1 to tear open; to open (a package/letter)
  2. 2 to tear down; to demolish
  3. 3 to dismantle; to take apart

Characters

(hand) + (to reject) - tearing apart with the hand

Examples

HSK 3
Bié chāi wǒ de tái!
Don't undermine me!
HSK 4
Wǒlái chāi kuàidì.
Let me open the delivery package.
HSK 4
Tā bǎ shǒubiǎo chāikāi yánjiū.
He took apart the watch to study it.
HSK 7-9
Zhè dòng jiù lóu yào chāi le.
This old building is going to be demolished.

Tips

usage
拆快递 (opening packages) is almost a national hobby in China thanks to the massive e-commerce culture. is also used figuratively: 拆台 = to undermine someone; 拆穿 = to expose/debunk.
culture
The character painted in a circle on buildings (usually in red) is a famous sight - it means the building is marked for demolition. 拆迁 = demolition and relocation.

Components

radical
shǒu
hand (radical form)
Left hand radical - the indexing component. Marks as a hand-action: pulling, tearing, dismantling with the fingers. Same radical drives most physical-action verbs: (push), (pull), (grab), (assemble), (hug).
phonetic
chì
to reject; to expel (here phonetic)
Right supplies a near-sound (chì → chāi) and a faint hint of meaning - to push away, drive off. Together with the hand radical: a hand pushing apart, taking down, tearing open. Phono-semantic alignment is unusually tight.

Stroke Order

chāi