削 (xiāo): to peel with a knife, to pare, to cut (a ball at tennis etc)
削 (xiāo) is a Chinese character meaning “to peel with a knife.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 肖 (phonetic) and 刂 (semantic). It ranks #1777 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 削 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 peel with a knife
- to pare
- to cut (a ball at tennis etc)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 削 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 削减verb | xuē jiǎn | to cut down |
| 削弱verb | xuē ruò | to weaken |
| 剥削verb | bō xuē | to exploit |
| 瘦削adjective | shòu xuē | slim |
| 刀削面noun | dāo xiāo miàn | knife-shaved noodles (pared or shaved into strips), a Shanxi specialty |
| 切削verb | qiē xiāo | to cut |
| 削价verb | xuē jià | to cut down the price |
| 削球 | xiāo qiú | (sport) to chop |
| 剥削者noun | bō xuē zhě | exploiter (of labor) |
| 削发verb | xuē fà | to shave one's head |
| 削职为民 | xuē zhí wéi mín | demotion to commoner (idiom) |
| 下旋削球 | xià xuán xiāo qiú | (golf, tennis) undercut |
| 被剥削者noun | bèi bō xuē zhě | person suffering exploitation |
| 削除verb | xuē chú | to remove |
| 削足适履phrase | xuē zú shì lǚ | to cut the feet to fit the shoes (idiom) |
削 appears in 25 compound words: 60 as the first character, 20 as the last, and 20 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 削 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
写好削字需要掌握正确的笔画顺序。
xiě hǎo xiāo zì xū yāo zhǎng wò zhēng què de bǐ huà shùn xù .
To write the character "削" correctly, one must master the proper stroke order.
...Logistics 2026上半年业绩:削减成本推动盈利激增98%
. . . L o g i s t i c s 2 0 2 6 shàng bàn nián yè jì : xiāo jiǎn chéng běn tuī dòng yíng lì jī zēng 9 8
... Logistics 2026 First Half Results: Cost Cuts Drive 98% Profit Surge
Maravai 2025年第四季度业绩:削减成本后EBITDA转正
M a r a v a i 2 0 2 5 nián dì sì jì dù yè jì : xiāo jiǎn chéng běn hòu E B I T D A zhuǎn zhèng
Maravai Q4 2025 results: EBITDA turned positive after cost cuts
财政预算案|消息:幼稚园单位资助额不再削减 两项津贴整合并入
cái zhèng yù suàn àn xiāo xī : yòu zhì yuán dān wèi zī zhù é bù zài xiāo jiǎn liǎng xiàng jīn tiē zhěng gě bìng rù
Budget|News: The amount of subsidy for kindergarten units will not be reduced The two subsidies will be integrated and merged
...息:幼稚园单位资助不再减 官津校资助每年削2%
. . . xī : yòu zhì yuán dān wèi zī zhù bù zài jiǎn guān jīn jiào zī zhù měi nián xiāo 2
... Interest: Kindergarten unit subsidy will no longer be reduced, and the subsidy for government-subsidized schools will be reduced by 2% per year
...究机构表示,习近平对中国军队的清洗行动会削弱指挥能力和战备水平-FX168
. . . jiū jī gòu biǎo shì , xí jìn píng duì zhōng guó jūn duì de qīng xǐ háng dòng huì xiāo ruò zhǐ huī néng lì hé zhàn bèi shuǐ píng F X 1 6 8
... Research agencies said that Xi Jinping's purge of the Chinese army will weaken command capabilities and combat readiness - FX168
铲子是用来刮削还是翻菜的？
Chǎnzi shì yònglái guā xiāo háishi fān cài de?
Are spatulas for scraping or turning?
请把马铃薯的皮削掉。
Qǐng bǎ mǎlíngshǔ de pí xiāo diào.
Please peel the potatoes.
汤姆给一颗苹果削皮。
Tāngmǔ gěi yī kē píngguǒ xiāo pí.
Tom peeled an apple.
我在削芹菜和土豆。
Wǒ zài xiāo qíncài hé tǔdòu.
I'm peeling the celery and the potatoes.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 刂 (knife) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 削 (xiāo) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 削 and 悄?
How many strokes does 削 have?
What is the radical of 削?
What are the components of 削?
What are common words containing 削?
What characters sound the same as 削 (xiāo)?
Is 削 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 削 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.