TongTong
Sign in

抹杀 (mǒ shā) — to erase, to blot out, to suppress (facts, achievements, contributions, etc.)

Definition

抹杀 means to deliberately erase or deny someone's achievements, contributions, or historical facts — stronger than the physical wiping sense of 抹 ('to wipe away').

verb
to eraseto blot outto suppress (facts, achievements, contributions, etc.)

Examples

  • 抹杀，。
    Lì shǐ bù róng mǒ shā, zhēn xiàng zhōng jiāng dà bái.
    History cannot be erased; the truth will eventually come to light.
  • 抹杀。
    Wǒ men bù néng yīn wèi tā de yí gè cuò wù jiù mǒ shā tā suǒ yǒu de gòng xiàn.
    We cannot erase all his contributions just because of one mistake.
  • ，抹杀。
    Zhè xiē lǎo zhào piàn bǎo cún le zhēn guì de jì yì, shuí yě wú fǎ mǒ shā.
    These old photos preserve precious memories that no one can blot out.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

抹mǒwipe
杀shāeliminate

抹 wipes away and 杀 eliminates, so 抹杀 means to blot out or suppress completely.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
末
末mò抹mǒ
Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand component 手, showing an action done with the hand; the right part 末 gives the pronunciation.

Open 抹 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殺; 杀 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 殺 comes from an old drawing of a boar impaled in the head, with 人 and 又 added to show a person doing the killing; the simplified 杀 is a later abbreviation.

Open 杀 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Change & Process

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.