削 (xuē): to pare; to cut down; to reduce

Meanings

1 to pare; to cut down; to reduce
2 to strip away; to remove
3 to exploit

Characters

削

xuē

to pare; to cut down; to reduce

Examples

公司决定削减预算。

Gōngsī juédìng xuējiǎn yùsuàn.

The company decided to cut its budget.

这件丑闻大大削弱了他的权威。

Zhèjiàn chǒuwén dàdà xuēruò le tā de quánwēi.

The scandal greatly weakened his authority.

工人受到残酷的剥削。

Gōngrén shòudào cánkù de bōxuē.

Workers were ruthlessly exploited.

Tips

usage

The xuē reading is the abstract 'reduce / strip away' family and is the one used in most formal compounds: 削减 (to cut down), 削弱 (to weaken), 剥削 (to exploit), 瘦削 (gaunt). For the hands-on 'peel / whittle' sense use the xiāo reading. Taiwan pronounces this reading xuè.

Components

radical

刂 dāo

knife

刂 is the right-side form of 刀 (knife). It marks 削 as a cutting action and groups it with 切, 剪, 割 under the blade-action umbrella.

phonetic

肖 xiāo

resemble; small

肖 gives the sound xiāo directly, with the secondary reading xiào (resemblance). The 'small / diminished' flavour also sneaks into 削: to pare down or shave off material until something is reduced. Same phonetic in 消 (dissolve) and 销 (melt down).