屠刀 (tú dāo) — butcher's knife | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

butcher's knife

Measure word · 把

屠刀。
Nà bǎ tú dāo fēi cháng fēng lì.
That butcher's knife is very sharp.
屠刀。
Tā yòng tú dāo bǎ ròu qiē chéng xiǎo kuài.
He used a butcher's knife to cut the meat into small pieces.
屠刀。
Nà ge huài rén zhōng yú fàng xià le tú dāo.
That bad person finally laid down his butcher's knife.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

屠túslaughter; butcher

屠 points to slaughtering or butchering, and 刀 is knife; together they name a butcher's knife.

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.

尸者屠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

者

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

屠 combines 尸 (body) with 者, which gives the sound.

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

The shape of 刀 comes from a simple picture of a knife.