割除 (gē chú) — to excise; to cut out (surgically or figuratively)

Definition

A formal verb meaning to cut out or excise, used in both surgical and figurative contexts (e.g. cutting out bad habits). Stronger and more clinical than everyday words like 去掉 or 删掉.

verb
to exciseto cut out (surgically or figuratively)

Examples

  • 割除。
    Yī shēng bǎ zhǒng liú gē chú le.
    The doctor excised the tumor.
  • 割除。
    Tā jué xīn gē chú yí qiè bù liáng xí guàn.
    He is determined to cut out all bad habits.
  • ，割除。
    Shǒu shù zhōng, yī shēng xiǎo xīn dì gē chú le bìng biàn zǔ zhī.
    During surgery, the doctor carefully excised the diseased tissue.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

割gēcut
除chúremove

The action of 割 'cut' is followed by the result of 除 'remove', giving the sense of cutting something away.

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
刂Written in full as刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
害
害hài割gē
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

割 combines 害, which provides the sound, with 刂, the knife form of 刀, to show cutting.

Open 割 →

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
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú除chú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

除 is built from 阜 and 余, with 余 giving the sound.

Open 除 →

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