殄 (tiǎn): (classical) to wipe out; to ext…

Meanings

1 (classical) to wipe out; to exterminate
2 (classical) to use up; to exhaust

Characters

殄

tiǎn

to exterminate; to exhaust (classical)

Examples

随意浪费好东西，就是暴殄天物。

Suíyì làngfèi hǎo dōngxi, jiùshì bàotiǎntiānwù.

To waste good things recklessly is a senseless squandering of nature's gifts.

Tips

history

殄 is a classical verb 'to exterminate / use up' and is not used by itself in modern Chinese, which says 消灭. It survives chiefly in the chengyu 暴殄天物 (to wantonly destroy what nature provides). Built on the 'death' radical 歹.

register

Classical and literary only. You meet 殄 in old prose and the one common idiom, not in everyday speech.

Components

radical

歹 dǎi

bad; death; bare bones

The 'death / bad' radical 歹 (originally stripped bones) fits a verb about destroying and exterminating. It is the indexing radical of 殄.

phonetic

㐱 zhěn

thick hair; (here) phonetic

The right side is the same phonetic seen in 诊 and 珍; it supplies the sound for 殄, which has drifted from the modern value.

Stroke Order

殄 tiǎn

Related Words

拔 bá HSK 5 #2,896

to pull up; to pull out; to uproot / to select; to promote; to stand out

出局 chūjú HSK 7-9 #2,394

to be eliminated; to be out / to be knocked out (of a competition)

抽 chōu HSK 4 #1,379

to draw out / to pull out / to smoke (cigarettes) / to extract

出 chū HSK 1 #105

to go out / to come out / to produce / to appear

抽出 chōuchū #8,273

to draw out; to pull out / to find (time); to set aside

出海 chūhǎi #8,973

to go out to sea; to put out to sea / to go overseas (for business expansion)

彻头彻尾 chètóu-chèwěi #9,186

through and through / from beginning to end / out-and-out; thoroughly

撤离 chèlí HSK 6 #4,986

to withdraw; to evacuate / to pull out (from a location)

避开 bìkāi #4,764

to avoid / to steer clear of / to get out of the way

保释 bǎoshì #4,038

to bail out / to post bail for