掷 (zhì): to throw

Meanings

1 to throw
2 to toss
3 to cast

Characters

掷

zhì

to throw; to cast

Examples

HSK 7-9

他掷出了骰子。

Tā zhì chū le tóuzi.

He threw the dice.

HSK 7-9

运动员奋力掷出铁饼。

Yùndòngyuán fènlì zhì chū tiěbǐng.

The athlete threw the discus with all his might.

HSK 7-9

孤注一掷是很危险的。

Gūzhù-yīzhì shì hěn wēixiǎn de.

Putting all your eggs in one basket is very dangerous.

Tips

usage

掷 is more literary than 扔 (rēng) or 丢 (diū). It appears in formal/written Chinese and set phrases like 掷骰子 (throw dice), 投掷 (to throw, in sports), 孤注一掷 (stake everything on one throw).

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand

扌 is the left-side simplified hand radical. It marks 掷 as an arm-action verb - here, hurling, throwing forcefully. Family includes 投 (toss), 抛 (cast), 扔 (throw), 抓 (grab); the hand on the left always signals: this is something you do with the upper limb.

phonetic

郑 zhèng

Zheng (state/surname)

郑 (zhèng) on the right supplies the sound - initial preserved, rime preserved, tone shifted (zhì in 掷 reflects an older reading). Originally 擲 used 鄭 as phonetic; the simplified 掷 keeps the same relationship. The character was simplified along with its phonetic, so no etymological link is lost.