quē / què
noun #46,155

Meanings

  1. 1 a gap
  2. 2 an omission
  3. 3 vacant official post

Examples

Jìlù yǒu quē, shǐguān biàn bǎ zhè tiáo liú kòng.
There was a gap in the records, so the historian left the entry blank.
Ná bú zhǔn shí, nìngkě quē yí, yě búyào luàn cāi.
When unsure, it is better to leave the doubtful part out than to guess.

Tips

usage
Read in the old written sense of a gap or missing part, where it stands in for (lacking). The set phrase 阙疑 means to leave a doubtful point open rather than fill it with a guess.

Components

radical
mén
gate; door
The gate radical, wrapping the character. It fits because are the watchtowers that flank a palace gate, the structure standing guard at the entrance.
phonetic
jué
to dig out; to exhaust
Sits inside the gate and supplies the sound (jué shifting to què). It also lends a faint sense of a gap or hollow, matching the 'deficiency' meaning.

Stroke Order

quē