刑

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punishment; penalty; sentence; torture; corporal punishment

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A man 刂 in jail 开

Components 开刂

punishment · Heisig RSH #618

two hands + saber

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
刑名之学	xíng míng zhī xué	xing-ming, a school of thought of the Warring States period associated with Shen Buhai 申不害…
刑事法院	xíng shì fǎ yuàn	criminal court; judiciary court
受刑人	shòu xíng rén	person being executed; victim of corporal punishment; person serving a sentence
刑人	xíng rén	criminal to be executed; to execute a criminal
水刑	shuǐ xíng	water-boarding (torture)
刑天	Xíng tiān	Xingtian, headless giant hero of Chinese mythology decapitated by the Yellow Emperor 黃帝\|黄帝…
行刑	xíng xíng	to carry out a (death) sentence; execution
上刑	shàng xíng	severe punishment; worst punishment; to torture
电刑	diàn xíng	to torture sb using electricity; electrocution (capital punishment)
刑事局	Xíng shì jú	Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB)
体刑	tǐ xíng	corporal punishment
刑法	xíng fǎ	criminal law
刑事	xíng shì	criminal; penal
石刑	shí xíng	stoning (execution method)
定刑	dìng xíng	to sentence (a criminal)
火刑	huǒ xíng	execution by fire; burning at the stake
流刑	liú xíng	exile (as a form of punishment)
国际刑事警察组织	Guó jì Xíng shì Jǐng chá Zǔ zhī	International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)
刑名	xíng míng	xing-ming, a school of thought of the Warring States period associated with Shen Buhai 申不害…
行刑队	xíng xíng duì	firing squad

These characters use 刑 as their sound component — compare how they read.