砍 (kǎn): to chop, to cut down, to throw sth at sb
砍 (kǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “to chop.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 石 (semantic) and 欠 (phonetic). It ranks #2166 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 砍 stone. Its radical form 石 (stone) appears in many related characters such as 确 (què, certain, true), 碗 (wǎn, bowl), 碰 (pèng, to touch, to bump).
Definitions
- to chop
- to cut down
- to throw sth at sb
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 砍 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 砍刀 | kǎn dāo | machete |
| 砍价verb | kǎn jià | to bargain |
| 砍伐verb | kǎn fá | to hew |
| 砍头不过风吹帽 | kǎn tóu bù guò fēng chuī mào | to regard decapitation as no more important than the wind blowing off your hat (idiom) |
| 砍大山 | kǎn dà shān | variant of 侃大山 |
| 磨刀不误砍柴工proverb | mó dāo bù wù kǎn chái gōng | lit. sharpening the axe won't make the wood-splitting take longer (idiom) |
| 砍头verb | kǎn tóu | to decapitate |
| 砍死 | kǎn sǐ | to hack to death |
| 砍断verb | kǎn duàn | to chop off |
| 砍杀verb | kǎn shā | to attack with a bladed weapon |
| 砍伤 | kǎn shāng | to wound with a blade or hatchet |
| 砍树verb | kǎn shù | to chop wood |
| 滥砍滥伐 | làn kǎn làn fá | wanton destruction of forested lands |
砍 appears in 13 compound words: 85 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 15 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 砍 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
砍字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
kǎn zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character "砍" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
金门男酒空唱K持刀砍人 友重伤送医不治
jīn mén nán jiǔ kōng chàng K chí dāo kǎn rén yǒu chóng shāng sòng yī bù zhì
Man in Kinmen Stabs Someone While Singing Alone at a Karaoke Bar; Friend Seriously Injured and Dies in Hospital
...科技大厂惊传情杀 女保全值勤中遭男友持刀砍伤
. . . kē jì dà hǎn jīng chuán qíng shā nǚ bǎo quán zhí qín zhōng zāo nán yǒu chí dāo kǎn shāng
... A female security guard was slashed by her boyfriend with a knife while on duty
今年健保“砍药价”达36.15亿 健保署:调整项目及...
jīn nián jiàn bǎo kǎn yào jià dá 3 6 . 1 5 yì jiàn bǎo shǔ : diào zhěng xiàng mù jí . . .
This year's health insurance "cut drug prices" reached 3.615 billion yuan National Health Insurance Administration: Adjust projects and...
健保药价今年砍36.15亿!2343项药品调整 “品项...
jiàn bǎo yào jià jīn nián kǎn 3 6 . 1 5 yì ! 2 3 4 3 xiàng yào pǐn diào zhěng pǐn xiàng . . .
The price of health insurance drugs has been cut by 3.615 billion this year! 2,343 drug adjustments "Item...
被欠钱“拖过年” 女撂男友讨债砍前任一家三代
bèi qiàn qián tuō guò nián nǚ 撂 nán yǒu tǎo zhài kǎn qián rèn yī jiā sān dài
Being owed money "dragged on for the New Year" The woman abandoned her boyfriend to collect debts and cut off three generations of her ex's family
汤姆在后院砍伐了一棵树。
Tāngmǔ zàihòu yuàn kǎnfá le yī kē shù.
Tom cut down a tree in his yard.
所有苹果树都被砍倒了。
Suǒyǒu píngguǒ shù dōu bèi kǎn dǎo le.
All the apple trees were cut down.
他在花园里砍了一棵树。
Tā zài huāyuán lǐ kǎn le yī kē shù.
He cut down a tree in his garden.
我从树上砍下了一根树枝。
Wǒ cóng shù shàng kǎn xià le yī gēn shùzhī.
I cut a branch from the tree.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 砍 (kǎn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 砍 and 设?
How many strokes does 砍 have?
What is the radical of 砍?
What are the components of 砍?
What are common words containing 砍?
What characters sound the same as 砍 (kǎn)?
Is 砍 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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