铡 (zhá) · to chop with a lever-style guillotine (originally…

Meanings

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

Characters

铡

zhá

lever-style guillotine; to chop with one

Examples

HSK 6

包公一声令下，铡了陈世美。

Bāogōng yìshēng-lìngxià, zhá le Chén Shìměi.

At Lord Bao's command, Chen Shimei was beheaded by the guillotine.

HSK 7-9

农民用铡刀把麦秸铡碎喂牛。

Nóngmín yòng zhá dāo bǎ màijiē zhá suì wèi niú.

Farmers chop wheat straw with a chaff cutter to feed the cattle.

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.

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal (left-side radical of 金)

Left metal radical - the simplified five-stroke side-form of 金. It marks 铡 as a metal implement, specifically the hinged fodder-cutter or guillotine-blade used in old courtroom executions. Same indexing radical: 银 silver, 铁 iron, 钉 nail, 钢 steel, 锅 wok.

phonetic

则 zé

rule; then

Right 则 supplies the sound - zé drifting to zhá through palatal shift. 则 originally combined 鼎 (cauldron) with the knife radical, meaning to inscribe a law - so the knife imagery quietly reinforces 铡 as a blade. Famous in Bao Gong tales: 铡刀 the courtroom guillotine.