刀 (dāo) · knife, blade, sword

Measure Word

一把刀 bǎ

Meanings

1 knife
2 blade
3 sword
4 measure word for cuts or stabs with a knife

Characters

刀

dāo

knife; blade

A pictograph of a knife - also serves as a radical (刂) in many cutting-related characters.

Examples

HSK 3

小心用刀。

Xiǎoxīn yòng dāo.

Be careful using the knife.

HSK 5

他一刀就把西瓜切开了。

Tā yì dāo jiù bǎ xīgua qiēkāi le.

He split the watermelon open with one cut.

HSK 7-9

这把刀很锋利。

Zhè bǎ dāo hěn fēnglì.

This knife is very sharp.

Tips

history

刀 is one of the simplest Chinese characters and also a radical (刂) that appears in many knife-related characters: 切 (to cut), 刻 (to carve), 剪 (scissors), 割 (to slice).

culture

The Chinese kitchen traditionally uses one large cleaver (菜刀) for nearly all cutting tasks - chopping vegetables, slicing meat, and even crushing garlic.

Components

pictograph

刀 dāo

knife; blade

A pictograph of a curved blade with handle - two strokes capture the knife shape directly. Oracle bone forms show a clear single-edged blade with the handle to the right. As Kangxi radical #18 it is highly productive, reduced to 刂 on the right side of compounds (利 sharp, 切 cut, 刻 carve). Self-radical char - single component, no further decomposition.

Radical

Knife Kangxi #18

Highly productive radical. A reliable semantic clue for cutting, dividing, and decisive action: 分, 切, 刻, 剪, 割, 划, 利, 刑. The right-side reduction 刂 dominates in compounds, while the standalone 刀 keeps its full pictographic blade.

Forms

刀 dāo

Default 11 characters

刂 lìdāopáng

Right 51 characters