捭 (bò) · to split apart; to tear open

Meanings

HSK 7-9

他用手捭开烤乳猪分食。

Tā yòng shǒu bò kāi kǎo rǔzhū fēn shí.

He tore the roasted piglet apart with his hands and shared it out.

register

Read 捭 it is an old variant of 擘 ('to split with the hands'), seen in classical ritual texts. The everyday reading is 捭 in 捭阖.

radical

扌 shǒu

hand

Left side 扌 is the hand radical 手 in side form. The original sense is a two-handed outward strike or pushing things apart.

phonetic

卑 bēi

low

Right side 卑 is the sound element; the reading bǎi has drifted from it, as in related 稗.

捭 bò