摧

cuī

verb #21,713

Meanings

1 to destroy
2 to break
3 to devastate
4 to crush

Characters

摧

cuī

to destroy / to break / to devastate

Examples

HSK 7-9

狂风摧折了树木，满地狼藉。

Kuángfēng cuīzhé le shùmù, mǎn dì lángjí.

The fierce wind destroyed the trees, leaving the ground in chaos.

HSK 7-9

坚不可摧的意志使他度过了重重困难。

Jiānbùkěcuī de yìzhì shǐ tā dùguò le chóngchóng kùnnan.

His indestructible will carried him through countless hardships.

Tips

usage

摧 is largely classical/literary and rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It appears in set phrases: 坚不可摧 (indestructible), 无坚不摧 (able to overcome any obstacle), and 摧毁 (the common modern word for 'to destroy').

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Side-hand radical on the left - marks 摧 as a forceful hand-action verb. 摧 names the act of breaking, smashing, or destroying with applied force, putting it alongside 推 (push), 拆 (tear down), 撕 (rip). The hand radical sets up the violent physicality of the verb the moment you see the character.

phonetic

崔 cuī

high; surname Cui

Right 崔 supplies the sound - cuī = cuī, identical reading. 崔 depicts a mountain 山 over a short-tailed bird 隹, originally 'high, towering.' The 'towering' image is a memory hook for 摧: a hand smashing down on something tall, toppling what stood high. Same phonetic feeds 催 (urge), both cuī readings.

Stroke Order

摧 cuī

摧