p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Translate Flashcards Sign in

铡

鍘
zhá
verb #48,855

Meanings

  1. 1 to chop with a lever-style guillotine (originally for cutting straw or fodder)
  2. 2 (historical/literary) to execute by guillotine
  3. 3 (noun) lever-style hand guillotine; the 铡刀

Examples

农民用铡刀把麦秸铡碎喂牛。
Nóngmín yòng zhádāo bǎ màijiē zhá suì wèi niú.
Farmers chop wheat straw with a chaff cutter to feed the cattle.
包公一声令下，铡了陈世美。
Bāo Gōng yī shēng lìng xià, zhá le Chén Shìměi.
At Lord Bao's command, Chen Shimei was beheaded by the guillotine.

Tips

culture
In Peking opera and historical drama, 铡 evokes Lord Bao (包拯, 999-1062) — the legendary upright magistrate of Kaifeng who, by tradition, was authorized to execute three classes of criminal on the spot using three named guillotines: 龙头铡 (dragon-head, for nobles), 虎头铡 (tiger-head, for officials), 狗头铡 (dog-head, for commoners). The opera 《铡美案》 dramatizing the execution of Chen Shimei is a canonical piece.
mistakes
The character 铡 is read zhá (rising tone), not zhā or zhà. Don't confuse with 闸 zhá (sluice gate) or 炸 zhá / zhà (deep-fry / explode) — three different characters, only the second-tone zhá overlaps.

Stroke Order

铡 zhá