杀 meaning in English
to kill; to slay; to murder; to attack; to weaken; to reduce
Meaning of 杀
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to kill; to slay; to murder; to attack
- to weaken; to reduce
- (dialect) to smart
- (used after a verb) extremely
How to use 杀
杀 (shā) is a verb for killing people or animals, and it appears in many compounds like 杀手 (shāshǒu) killer and 自杀 (zìshā) suicide. It can also mean to cut or reduce, as in 杀价 (shājià) to haggle the price down. Example: 他们杀了一只鸡。(Tāmen shā le yì zhī jī.) They killed a chicken.
Look at 杀 (shā) as a tree 木 with a big X slashed across the top. Picture someone cutting down a tree with one stroke to remember "kill."
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 杀 (shā) with 条 (tiáo), which has a similar shape with 木 at the bottom. 杀 has an X shape on top, while 条 has 夂 on top.
杀 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
杀 shā · to kill · 6 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 杀.
| 自杀 | zìshā | to kill oneself; to commit suicide |
| 杀毒 | shādú | to disinfect; (computing) to destroy a computer virus |
| 杀手 | shāshǒu | killer; murderer |
| 杀害 | shāhài | to murder |
| 屠杀 | túshā | to massacre; to slaughter |
| 暗杀 | ànshā | to assassinate |
| 杀死 | shāsǐ | to kill |
| 杀人 | shārén | to kill a person; to commit murder |
| 谋杀 | móushā | to murder; to assassinate |
| 杀掉 | shādiào | to kill |
| 他杀 | tāshā | homicide (law) |
| 谋杀案 | móushā'àn | murder case |
Questions about 杀
What does 杀 mean?
杀 (shā) means "to kill; to slay; to murder; to attack; to weaken; to reduce" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 杀?
杀 is made of 1 character: 杀 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 杀 an HSK word?
Yes. 杀 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 杀 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 杀 is written 殺.
What does 杀 mean after another verb, like 笑杀?
After a verb, 杀 can mean "extremely" or "to death," as in 笑杀人 (xiào shā rén), meaning something is so funny it kills you. This use is more literary or old-fashioned. In everyday speech people usually say 笑死了 (xiào sǐ le) instead.
What is the difference between 杀 and 杀害?
杀 is the basic verb and can be used for animals, people, or even computer viruses, as in 杀毒 (shādú). 杀害 (shāhài) is more formal and is used for murdering people, often in news reports. You would not use 杀害 for killing a chicken.