割 (gē): to cut, to cut apart
割 (gē) is a Chinese character meaning “to cut.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 害 (phonetic) and 刂 (semantic). It ranks #1653 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 割 knife. Its radical form 刂 (knife) appears in many related characters such as 分 (fēn, to divide), 别 (bié, to leave), 到 (dào, to reach).
Definitions
- to cut
- to cut apart
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 割 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 割断verb | gē duàn | to cut off |
| 割伤verb | gē shāng | to gash |
| 切割verb | qiē gē | to cut |
| 收割verb | shōu gē | to harvest |
| 割草机noun | gē cǎo jī | lawn mower (machine) |
| 阉割verb | yān gē | to castrate |
| 分割verb | fēn gē | to cut up |
| 割舍verb | gē shě | to give up |
| 收割机noun | shōu gē jī | harvester (machine) |
| 任人宰割phrase | rèn rén zǎi gē | to get trampled on (idiom) |
| 宰割verb | zǎi gē | to slaughter |
| 割裂verb | gē liè | to cut apart |
| 黄金分割noun | huáng jīn fēn gē | golden ratio |
| 割除verb | gē chú | to amputate |
| 割让verb | gē ràng | to cede |
割 appears in 46 compound words: 54 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 13 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 割 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
to cut flesh from one's thigh to nourish a sick parent (idiom); filial thigh-cutting
to rip one's robe as a sign of repudiating a sworn brotherhood (idiom); to break all friendly ties
to be at the mercy of others; cannot but allow oneself to be trampled on by others
to cut flesh from one's thigh to nourish a sick parent (idiom); filial thigh-cutting
Example Sentences
学习割字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。
xué xí gē zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .
Mastering letter cutting requires repeated practice to achieve neat results.
...超商!见警瞎问“这警车谁的” 下秒遭大外割制伏
. . . chāo shāng ! jiàn jǐng xiā wèn zhè jǐng chē shéi de xià miǎo zāo dà wài gē zhì fú
... Supermarket! Seeing the police, he asked "whose police car is this" and was subdued by the big foreign cut in the next second
牵扯艾普斯坦引发学界风暴 哈佛切割前校长桑默斯
qiān chě ài pǔ sī tǎn yǐn fā xué jiè fēng bào hā fó qiē gē qián jiào cháng sāng mò sī
Involving Epstein caused a storm in the academic world Harvard cut former president Summers
...亮”开始直播带货:透视“AI魔改”如何收割流量
. . . liàng kāi shǐ zhí bō dài huò : tòu shì A I mó gǎi rú hé shōu gē liú liàng
... Bright" started live streaming: a perspective on how to harvest traffic in the "AI magic change"
...人夥同旗下歌手持毒遭逮! XG退追踪急切割:绝无关联
. . . rén 夥 tóng qí xià gē shǒu chí dú zāo dǎi ! X G tuì zhuī zōng jí qiē gē : jué wú guān lián
... People were arrested for drug possession with their singers! XG retraction and sharp cut: absolutely unrelated
...毙!傅崐萁:花莲无管辖权 轰中央卸责忙切割
. . . bì ! fù 崐 萁 : huā lián wú guǎn xiá quán hōng zhōng yāng xiè zé máng qiē gē
... Death! Fu Kunqi: Hualien has no jurisdiction and the central government is busy cutting
爱尔兰和英格兰被海分割。
ài'ěrlán hé Yīnggélán bèi hǎi fēngē.
A sea separates Ireland and England.
她得知父亲突然离世，不禁心如刀割。
Tā dézhī fùqīn tūrán líshì, bù jìn xīnrúdāogē.
She was filled with deep grief to hear of her father's sudden death.
他割掉了树上的几根树枝。
Tā gē diào le shù shàng de jǐ gēn shùzhī.
He cut some branches off the tree.
如果天气情况允许的话，我明天就去割草坪。
Rúguǒ tiānqì qíngkuàng yǔnxǔ dehuà, wǒ míngtiān jiù qù gēcǎo píng.
I'm going to mow the lawn tomorrow, weather permitting.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 刂 (knife) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 割 (gē) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 割 and 辖?
How many strokes does 割 have?
What is the radical of 割?
What are the components of 割?
What are common words containing 割?
What characters sound the same as 割 (gē)?
Is 割 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 割 with real-time feedback
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