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削

Mandarin · pinyin xiāo#

to peel with a knife
to pare
to cut (a ball at tennis etc)

Mandarin · pinyin xuē#

to pare
to reduce
to remove
Taiwan pr. xuè

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Characters in this entry

削: xuē · scrape off, pare, trim

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · xiao1

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1character link53same-tone records

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 19 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ciu3 · soek3

Cantonese word readings for 削. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

to pare with a knife; to peel with a knife; to scrape off the surface; to slice
to divide; to split; to separate
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to reduce; to cut down
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to weaken
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to rob; to expropriate; to plunder
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese, literary or Taiwanese Hokkien) to delete; to remove; to cut out
(table tennis) to slice (the ball)
(ideophonic) steep (as if sliced); precipitous; sheer
(ideophonic) emaciated; scraggy; slender
(historical) writing knife
(historical) thin slips of wood used for writing; letters
(Cantonese) skinny; lean
(Cantonese) to hurt (the stomach)
(Hokkien) to mock; to ridicule; to have a dig at someone (to embarrass someone)
(Xiamen Hokkien) to remove fat, etc. from a body organ (of food or beverage)
(Xiamen Hokkien) to damage the spleen, stomach, etc. (of food or beverage)
(Taiwanese Hokkien) to compete; to fight

character

original form of 鞘 (qiào, “sword sheath”)

character

(historical) fief within three hundred li from the state capital

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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