剿 (chāo) — (bound form) to raid, to attack by stealth

Definition

Bound morpheme meaning 'to raid / attack by stealth' — it does not stand alone, and only appears in set words such as 袭 (raid, sneak attack).

bound form

to raidto attack by stealth

Easily confused

剿。
Tè zhǒng bù duì duì dí rén jìn xíng le chāo xí.
Special forces carried out a raid on the enemy.
剿。
Yóu jī duì yè jiān duì dí jūn yíng dì fā dòng le chāo xí.
The guerrilla force launched a raid on the enemy camp at night.
剿。
Dí rén bèi wǒ men de chāo xí dǎ dé cuò shǒu bù jí.
The enemy was caught off guard by our raid.

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

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

巢刂剿

Meaning part形符xíngfú

刂Written in full as刀dāoknife

Sound part声符shēngfú

巢

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

剿 is made from 巢, which supplies the sound, and 刂, the knife form of 刀.