歇手 (xiē shǒu) — to stop (doing something); to knock off work

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning to stop working or take a break — used mainly for manual labor or hands-on tasks, not office-style work.

verb

to stop (doing something)to knock off work

，歇手。
Tài wǎn le, wǒ men xiē shǒu ba.
It's too late — let's call it a day.
。
Tā máng le yì zhěng tiān yě méi xiē guò shǒu.
He worked all day and never took a break.
歇手。
Zhè xiàng gōng zuò bù néng bàn lù xiē shǒu.
You can't stop this task halfway through.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

歇 means stop and 手 refers to the hand, so the sense is stopping one's hand from working.

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.

曷欠歇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

曷

曷hé歇xiē

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

歇 uses 曷 for its sound hé and 欠 for its meaning.

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.