xiè
noun #30,651

Meanings

  1. 1 tool
  2. 2 weapon
  3. 3 instrument

Examples

HSK 4
Yīyuàn gāng mǎi le yī pī xīn de yīliáo qìxiè.
The hospital just bought a batch of new medical instruments.
HSK 7-9
Xiànzài hěnduō gōngchǎng de huór dōu kào jīxiè lái wánchéng.
Many factory jobs are now done by machinery.
HSK 7-9
Yánjìn xiédài xiè jù jìnrù huìchǎng.
Carrying weapons into the venue is strictly forbidden.

Tips

memory
(wood) + (guard), wooden tools and weapons.

Components

radical
tree; wood
depicts a tree with branches and roots. As radical it tells you was originally a wooden implement, most ancient tools and weapons were carved from wood, so the wood-radical is logical even when modern tools are metal.
phonetic
jiè
to guard; warn; precept
supplies the sound (jiè shifted to xiè). itself shows hands holding a halberd, a guard at the ready. The combined image is a wooden weapon-on-watch, the source of meanings tool, weapon, instrument.

Stroke Order

xiè