In ancient warfare this character meant cutting off a slain foe's left ear to count the kill.
Tips
history
聝 is not used in modern Chinese; it is a classical military word — soldiers cut off slain enemies' left ears to tally kills. It is also written 馘. It pairs the ear radical 耳 with the phonetic 或, the phonetic also in 国 and 域.
register
Classical military vocabulary only; never used in modern speech or writing.