Definition
刺 (cì) means 'to stab, to prick' — it involves piercing with a sharp point (a knife, needle, thorn). It differs from 捅 (tǒng) 'to poke/stab' (often with a stick or finger) and 戳 (chuō) 'to jab' (with a pointed object). As a noun, 刺 means 'thorn, spine' (on plants/animals), not the backbone (脊梁 jǐliáng).
noun
thornspineprickle
verb
to prickto stabto pierceto assassinateto murder
Easily confused
- 枣zǎolook-alikejujube (Chinese date)
- 次cìsound-alike(classifier) time (used to count occurrences of an event)
- 此cǐsound-alikethis; these
- 词císound-alikeword
- 赐cìsound-aliketo bestow, to confer (by a superior or heaven)
- 辞císound-aliketo resign (from a job)
Examples
- 刺。Zhè zhǒng yú de bèi shàng yǒu hěn duō cì.This kind of fish has many spines on its back.
- 刺。Tā bù xiǎoxīn cì dào le shǒuzhǐ.He accidentally pricked his finger.
- 刺。Nà bù diànyǐng lǐ yǒu rén bèi cì sǐ le.In that movie, someone was stabbed to death.
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