除 (chú): to get rid of, to remove, to exclude
除 (chú) is a Chinese character meaning “to get rid of.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 阝 (structural) and 余 (structural). It ranks #464 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 除 the waste 余 produced by a city 阝. Its radical form 阝 (mound) appears in many related characters such as 那 (nà, (specifier) that), 都 (dōu, all), 院 (yuàn, courtyard).
Definitions
- to get rid of
- to remove
- to exclude
Etymology & Origin
ideographicThe waste 余 produced by a city 阝
Decomposition: ⿰阝余 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 除 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 除
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 除了preposition | chú le | apart from | 3 |
| 除非conjunction | chú fēi | only if (..., or otherwise, ...) | 6 |
| 排除verb | pái chú | to eliminate | 6 |
| 消除verb | xiāo chú | to eliminate | 6 |
| 删除verb | shān chú | to delete | 5 |
| 拆除verb | chāi chú | to tear down | 6 |
| 除夕noun | chú xī | lunar New Year's Eve | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 开除verb | kāi chú | to expel (a member of an organization) |
| 解除verb | jiě chú | to remove |
| 除掉verb | chú diào | to eliminate |
| 清除verb | qīng chú | to clear away |
| 切除verb | qiē chú | to excise |
| 除此之外conjunction | chú cǐ zhī wài | apart from this |
| 除去verb | chú qù | to eliminate |
| 废除verb | fèi chú | to abolish |
| 铲除verb | chǎn chú | to root out |
| 去除verb | qù chú | to remove |
| 除外verb | chú wài | to exclude |
| 免除verb | miǎn chú | to prevent |
| 摘除verb | zhāi chú | to excise |
| 扣除verb | kòu chú | to deduct |
| 除名verb | chú míng | to strike off (the rolls) |
除 appears in 100 compound words: 39 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 7 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 除 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; arithmetic operations
lit. cut grass and pull out roots (idiom); fig. to destroy root and branch; to eradicate
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; arithmetic operations
Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 除.
Example Sentences
除了周末，他每天晚上都会去健身房锻炼。
Chú le zhōumò, tā měitiān wǎnshang dōu huì qù jiànshēnfáng duànliàn.
Except for weekends, he goes to the gym to exercise every evening.
有乳腺增生怎么办能消除吗?“消除”不现实,“控制”是目标
yǒu rǔ xiàn zēng shēng zěn má bàn néng xiāo chú ma ? xiāo chú bù xiàn shí , kòng zhì shì mù biāo
What should I do if there is breast hyperplasia, can it be eliminated?" elimination" is unrealistic, and "control" is the goal
系统遭骇不排除顾客资料外流 圆山大饭店启动应变机制
xì tǒng zāo hài bù pái chú gù kè zī liào wài liú yuán shān dà fàn diàn qǐ dòng yīng biàn jī zhì
The system was hacked and the leakage of customer data was not ruled out, and the Grand Hotel launched a contingency mechanism
...层丨9年前带3岁女儿开出租车的单亲妈妈,除..
. . . céng 丨 nián qián dài suì nǚ ér kāi chū zū chē de shàn qīn mā mā , chú . .
... The single mom who drove a cab with her 3-year-old daughter nine years ago, except...
守护万家灯火,90后山东小伙的萧山变电站除夕夜
shǒu hù mò jiā dēng huǒ , hòu shān dōng xiǎo huǒ de xiāo shān biàn diàn zhàn chú xī yè
Guarding the Lights of a Million Homes: A Shao Xian Substation's New Year's Eve for a Post-90s Shandong Youth
豆包除夕AI互动19亿次
dòu bāo chú xī hù dòng yì cì
Doubao's Lunar New Year Eve AI Interaction Hits 1.9 Billion Times
除了钢琴以外，还会玩什么乐器吗？
Chúle gāngqín yǐwài, hái huì wán shénme yuèqì ma?
Do you play any instrument other than the piano?
你有除锈的东西吗？
Nǐ yǒu chú xiù de dōngxi ma?
Do you have anything to remove stains?
你知道怎么恢复已删除的文件吗？
Nǐ zhīdào zěnme huīfù yǐ shānchú de wénjiàn ma?
Do you know how to recover a deleted file?
你可不可以帮忙除草浇花？
Nǐ kě bù kěyǐ bāngmáng chú cǎo jiāo huā?
Could you please pull the weeds and water the flowers?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 除 (chú) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 除 (chú)?
Is 除 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 除 with real-time feedback
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