Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons

削: plane, sharpen

Also: whittle, pare, shave

JLPT N19 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

刂 carries the meaning · 肖 gives the sound

9 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

サクsaku · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 削減さくげんcut; reduction; curtailment
  • 掘削くっさくdigging out; excavation
  • 削除さくじょdeletion; elimination; erasure
  • 添削てんさくcorrection; looking over; touching up

けずるkezuru · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 削るけずるto shave (wood, leather, etc.)
  • 削り節けずりぶしflaked bonito

Also read はつる, そぐ, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Slice through it! This "standing knife" radical is all about precision and force.”
More in the ⺉ knife story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
肖

Also built on resemblance (肖)

The 肖 family reads ショウ (shou); 削 is read サク.

刂

Also built on knife (刂)

All 27

Also read サク

13 kanji share this on'yomiAll 13

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
削 plane · 刂
vs宵 wee hours · 宀
削 has 刂 where 宵 has 宀.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · xuē

Same form: 削 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
削 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
削 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin xuē most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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