杀 (shā) — to kill; to murder; to reduce; to weaken (e.g., price in bargaining); (used after a verb) extremely; to death
Definition
杀 (shā) is the everyday verb 'to kill' — more general than the formal 死亡 ('to die') and the specific 刺杀 ('to assassinate / stab'). As a result complement it means 'extremely' (e.g., 气杀我了 'furious to death').
verb
to killto murderto reduceto weaken (e.g., price in bargaining)(used after a verb) extremelyto death
Examples
- 杀。Xiōng shǒu yòng dāo shā le shòu hài zhě.The murderer killed the victim with a knife.
- 杀？Zhè jiàn yī fu néng shā diǎn jià ma?Can you bring down the price a little on this piece of clothing?
- 杀Zhè jié guǒ qì shā wǒ leThis result makes me furious.
Origin
Pictograph六书liùshū
象形xiàngxíngA drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 殺; 杀 is its simplified writing.
The traditional form 殺 comes from an old drawing of a boar impaled in the head, with 人 and 又 added to show a person doing the killing; the simplified 杀 is a later abbreviation.
Appears in
Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.