锄 (chú): a hoe

锄 (chú) is a Chinese character meaning “a hoe.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (structural) and 助 (structural). It ranks #3131 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 锄 a metal 钅 tool 助; 助 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 金 (jīn, metal, gold), 钱 (qián, money), 银 (yín, silver, bank).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 钅 metal12 strokesFrequency #3131钅 structural 助 structural

Definitions

a hoe

Etymology & Origin

锄

ideographicA metal 钅 tool 助; 助 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰钅助 (layout: left-right)

Components:钅structural 助structural

Stroke Order

Practice writing 锄 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
锄头	chú tou	hoe
锄草	chú cǎo	to hoe
锄奸	chú jiān	to weed out the traitors
诛锄异己	zhū chú yì jǐ	to wipe out dissenters
锄强扶弱	chú qiáng fú ruò	to root out the strong and support the weak (idiom)
锄地	chú dì	to hoe
鹤嘴锄	hè zuǐ chú	pickax
锄犁	chú lí	plow
诛锄	zhū chú	to uproot

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

锄 appears in 9 compound words: 67 as the first character, 22 as the last, and 11 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 锄 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

奸jiān

0.6441,332 co-occurrences

铲chǎn

0.44130 co-occurrences

扶fú

0.436180 co-occurrences

头tóu

0.435582 co-occurrences

斧fǔ

0.41448 co-occurrences

耕gēng

0.413108 co-occurrences

穷qióng

0.39648 co-occurrences

弱ruò

0.384162 co-occurrences

鹤hè

0.38448 co-occurrences

强qiáng

0.377288 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

锄强扶弱chúqiángfúruòHSK 7+

to suppress the strong and aid the weak

phrase

诛锄异己zhū chú yì jǐHSK 7+

to wipe out dissenters; to exterminate those who disagree

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

学习锄字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。

xué xí chú zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .

Writing the character "锄" requires repeated practice to ensure it is written neatly.

Character Family

钅 Radical Family — Characters sharing the metal radical

错cuò 钉dīng 钢gāng 金jīn 钱qián 铁tiě 铜tóng 银yín 针zhēn 钟zhōng

Related Characters

金jīn 钱qián 银yín 铁tiě 钢gāng 铜tóng 钟zhōng 针zhēn 错cuò 钉dīng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 锄 (chú) mean in Chinese?

锄 (chú) primarily means "a hoe." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3131 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 锄 have?

锄 is written with 12 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 锄?

The radical associated with 锄 is 钅 (metal). This radical appears in many characters related to metal.

What are the components of 锄?

锄 is composed of: 钅 (structural), 助 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰钅助 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 锄?

Common words with 锄 include: 锄头 (chú tou, "hoe"); 锄草 (chú cǎo, "to hoe"); 锄奸 (chú jiān, "to weed out the traitors"); 诛锄异己 (zhū chú yì jǐ, "to wipe out dissenters"); 锄强扶弱 (chú qiáng fú ruò, "to root out the strong and support the weak (idiom)"). There are over 9 compound words containing this character.

Is 锄 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 锄 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 锄 with real-time feedback

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