斧 (fǔ): hatchet

斧 (fǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “hatchet.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 父 (phonetic) and 斤 (semantic). It ranks #2614 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 斧 axe. Its radical form 斤 (axe) appears in many related characters such as 新 (xīn, new), 斤 (jīn, catty), 断 (duàn, to break).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. hatchet

Etymology & Origin

斧

pictophoneticaxe

Decomposition: ⿱父斤 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
斧头nounfǔ tóuax
斧子nounfǔ ziaxe
鬼斧神工phraseguǐ fǔ shén gōngsupernaturally fine craft (idiom)
大刀阔斧phrasedà dāo kuò fǔbold and decisive
板斧nounbǎn fǔbroad axe
班门弄斧phrasebān mén nòng fǔto display one's slight skill before an expert (idiom)
刀斧手noundāo fǔ shǒulictor
神工鬼斧shén gōng guǐ fǔsee 鬼斧神工
斧正verbfǔ zhèng(polite) please amend my writing
不避斧钺bù bì fǔ yuènot trying to avoid the battle-ax (idiom)
战斧nounzhàn fǔbattle-ax
镰刀斧头lián dāo fǔ tóuthe hammer and sickle (flag of USSR, symbolizing rural and proletarian labor)
资斧zī fǔ(literary) money for a journey
斧钺之诛fǔ yuè zhī zhūto die by battle-ax (idiom)
操斧伐柯cāo fǔ fá kē(cf Book of Songs) How to fashion an ax handle? You need an ax
18
Total compounds
28
As first character
39
As last character
33
As middle character

斧 appears in 18 compound words: 28 as the first character, 39 as the last, and 33 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 斧 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

劈pī
0.541214 co-occurrences
砍kǎn
0.529418 co-occurrences
刀dāo
0.5011,006 co-occurrences
柄bǐng
0.469260 co-occurrences
阔kuò
0.449190 co-occurrences
头tóu
0.434860 co-occurrences
铲chǎn
0.43240 co-occurrences
凿záo
0.42260 co-occurrences
锄chú
0.40816 co-occurrences
锤chuí
0.39834 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

班门弄斧bānménnòngfǔHSK 7+

to show off one's inferior talent or skill in front of an expert; to teach an expert how to do things

phrase
操斧伐柯cāo fǔ fá kē

(cf Book of Songs) How to fashion an ax handle? You need an ax; fig. to follow a principle; fig. to act as matchmaker

phrase
大刀阔斧dàdāokuòfǔHSK 7+

to handle something with daring and resolve; to be bold and decisive when handling an issue; drastic

phrase
鬼斧神工guǐfǔshéngōngHSK 7+

superlative craftsmanship; supernaturally fine craft (as if done by the spirits)

phrase
神工鬼斧shén gōng guǐ fǔHSK 7+

see 鬼斧神工

phrase
刀锯斧钺dāo jù fǔ yuèHSK 7+

knife, saw, ax and hatchet (idiom); facing torture and execution

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

斧正文章,精益求精。

Fǔzhèng wénzhāng, jīngyìqiújīng.

Polish writing to strive for perfection.

爱范儿Aug 2026

显性上的克制,衬出的是隐性上的大刀阔斧。

xiǎn xìng shàng de kè zhì , chèn chū de shì yǐn xìng shàng de dà dāo kuò fǔ .

Overt restraint serves to highlight the bold, sweeping changes taking place behind the scenes.

IT之家Jul 2026

这次大刀阔斧的重组,使外界格外关注微软最新季度财报。

zhè cì dà dāo kuò fǔ de chóng zǔ , shǐ wài jiè gé wài guān zhù wēi ruǎn zuì xīn jì dù cái bào .

This sweeping restructuring has drawn particular attention to Microsoft's latest quarterly earnings report.

NewtalkApr 2026

...朗打光了! 美通知日本 若要 400枚战斧 得再等等

. . . lǎng dǎ guāng le ! měi tōng zhī rì běn ruò yāo 4 0 0 méi zhàn fǔ dé zài děng děng

...We're out of stock! U.S. tells Japan: If you want 400 Tomahawk missiles, you'll have to wait a little longer

東森新聞Apr 2026

北投惊传斧头砍人!疑同事间纠纷 惊悚瞬间曝

běi tóu jīng chuán fǔ tóu kǎn rén ! yí tóng shì jiān jiū fēn jīng 悚 shùn jiān pù

Shocking Report of Axe Attack in Beitou! Suspected Dispute Between Colleagues—Chilling Moments Revealed

NewtalkApr 2026

日“鸟海号”改装可射战斧导弹! 搭JSM“海空双轨”射程覆盖大半...

rì niǎo hǎi hào gǎi zhuāng kě shè zhàn fǔ dǎo dàn ! dā J S M hǎi kōng shuāng guǐ shè chéng fù gài dà bàn . . .

Japan's "Chokai" to be modified to launch Tomahawk missiles! Combined with the JSM, its "dual-track" sea-air coverage spans most of...

Tatoeba

他用斧头重重的斩了一下,那棵树就倒了下来。

Tāyòng fǔtóu chóngchóng de zhǎn le yīxià, nà kē shù jiù dǎo le xiàlai.

The tree was felled with one hard blow of his ax.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 斤 (axe) component

斤 Radical Family — Characters sharing the axe radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced fǔ

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 斧 (fǔ) mean in Chinese?
斧 (fǔ) primarily means "hatchet." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2614 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 斧 have?
斧 is written with 8 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 斧?
The radical associated with 斧 is 斤 (axe). This radical appears in many characters related to axe.
What are the components of 斧?
斧 is composed of: 父 (phonetic), 斤 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱父斤 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 斧?
Common words with 斧 include: 斧头 (fǔ tóu, "ax"); 斧子 (fǔ zi, "axe"); 鬼斧神工 (guǐ fǔ shén gōng, "supernaturally fine craft (idiom)"); 大刀阔斧 (dà dāo kuò fǔ, "bold and decisive"); 板斧 (bǎn fǔ, "broad axe"). There are over 18 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 斧 (fǔ)?
Several characters share the pronunciation fǔ: 服 (clothes, serve), 夫 (husband), 复 (to go and return), 父 (father), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 斧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 斧 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 斧 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.