杀

殺
shā
HSK 5
#587 most
frequent character
to kill, to murder, to fight
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

杀 was a picture of a person with messy hair being beheaded. It first meant to kill or slaughter. The 乂 in it stands for a hacking tool, while 木 came from the old drawing of the person. From “kill” grew “fight” or “battle”, then “weaken” or “reduce”.

Drawn as: person with messy hair; beheading; hacking tool

杀 as a component in other characters

meaning2 characters
刹弑
sound2 characters
刹脎
picture1 character
铩

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Example Sentences

他杀了那只老虎。
tā shā le nàzhī lǎohǔ 。
He killed that tiger.
请不要在游戏中杀人。
qǐng búyào zài yóuxì zhōng shārén 。
Please do not kill people in the game.
这个药能杀死细菌。
zhègè yào néng shāsǐ xìjūn 。
This medicine can kill bacteria.

Words with similar meanings

灭miè
to extinguish
More formal and often used in the context of completely destroying or eliminating.
斩zhǎn
to chop
Implies a more violent or forceful action, often associated with swords or weapons.

Homophones

沙shā
granule, hoarse, raspy, sand

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Public Lists with 杀

Advanced HSK5 Terms
Vocabulary commonly seen in HSK5 practice, bridging mid-high level usage.
HSK 5
All words for the HSK 5 test
Domain-Specific: Legal & Justice
Courts, legal frameworks, criminal law, civil law, contractual terms.
Basic Verbs
Core action verbs like 'go,' 'come,' 'eat,' 'see,' commonly encountered in HSK.