锥 (zhuī): awl

Meanings

1 awl
2 cone
3 pointed tool for piercing

Characters

锥

zhuī

awl / cone / pointed tool

Examples

他用锥子在皮革上钻了一个洞。

Tāyòng zhuī zi zài pígé shàng zuān le yīgè dòng.

He used an awl to make a hole in the leather.

圆锥是一种几何体。

Yuán zhuī shì yī zhǒng jǐhé tǐ.

A cone is a geometric solid.

Tips

memory

The character 锥 has the metal radical 钅 on the left (it's a metal tool) and 隹 (a bird with a short tail) on the right — imagine a sharp, pointed bird's beak piercing through material.

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal (radical form of 金)

Left metal radical — the side-form of 金, the indexing radical. Anchors 锥 in the family of metal tools / objects: 钉 nail, 锯 saw, 针 needle, 锅 pot, 银 silver. Marks 锥 as a metal implement — an awl, drill, or any sharp-pointed metal tool used to pierce or bore. Extends to mathematical 'cone' (圆锥) by shape resemblance.

phonetic

隹 zhuī

short-tailed bird

Right 隹 supplies the sound — zhuī exactly, no shift. A pictograph of a short-tailed bird, Kangxi radical #172. Pure phonetic role in 锥; the bird meaning contributes nothing. Same phonetic family: 椎 vertebra / mallet, 推 push, 谁 who, 准 standard, 堆 pile. The 锥/椎 pair is mnemonic: both are knobby, hammer-shaped objects — one in wood (椎), one in metal (锥).