杀

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to kill; to slay; to murder; to attack; to weaken; to reduce; (dialect) to smart; (used after a verb) extremely

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

To kill 乂 someone and bury them in a coffin 木

Components 乂木

kill · Heisig RSH #1167

sheaf + pole

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
杀人不过头点地	shā rén bù guò tóu diǎn dì	It's all exaggeration, you don't need to take it seriously; a fuss about nothing; nothing …
杀马特	shā mǎ tè	Chinese youth subculture associated esp. with young migrant workers, characterized by flam…
生杀大权	shēng shā dà quán	life-and-death power; ultimate power
开门杀	kāi mén shā	dooring (accident caused by opening a vehicle door into traffic)
杀人放火	shā rén fàng huǒ	to kill and burn (idiom); murder and arson
杀人如草	shā rén rú cǎo	see 殺人如麻\|杀人如麻[sha1 ren2 ru2 ma2]
自杀式	zì shā shì	suicide (attack); suicidal
杀人	shā rén	to kill a person; to commit murder
过失杀人	guò shī shā rén	see 過失致死罪\|过失致死罪[guo4 shi1 zhi4 si3 zui4]
杀头	shā tóu	to behead
杀心	shā xīn	murderous intent; intent to kill
杀生	shā shēng	to take the life of a living creature
自杀	zì shā	to kill oneself; to commit suicide; to attempt suicide
杀机	shā jī	desire to commit murder; great danger
相爱相杀	xiāng ài xiāng shā	to have a love-hate relationship with each other
杀手	shā shǒu	killer; murderer; hit man; (sports) formidable player
杀气	shā qì	menacing air; murderous look; to vent one's anger
马杀鸡	mǎ shā jī	(loanword) massage
打杀	dǎ shā	to kill
杀人如麻	shā rén rú má	(lit.) to kill people like scything flax (idiom); (fig.) to kill people like flies

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
杀 sound part	shā	to kill, to murder, to slaughter; to hurt
刹	chà	temple, shrine, monastary; an instant, a moment; to brake