砸

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to smash; to pound; to fail; to muck up; to bungle

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

石 meaning “rock” + 匝 sound ( zā )

Components 石匝

smash · Heisig RSH #2676

石 stone + box + 巾 towel

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
搬起石头砸自己的脚	bān qǐ shí tou zá zì jǐ de jiǎo	to crush one's own foot while trying to maneuver a rock (to a cliff edge, to drop on one's…
搬石头砸自己的脚	bān shí tou zá zì jǐ de jiǎo	to move a stone and stub one's toe; to shoot oneself in the foot (idiom)
乱石砸死	luàn shí zá sǐ	to stone to death
砸场子	zá chǎng zi	to create a disruption at an event or venue
砸锅卖铁	zá guō mài tiě	to be willing to sacrifice everything one has (idiom)
打砸	dǎ zá	to smash up; to vandalize
砸死	zá sǐ	to crush to death
砸破	zá pò	to break; to shatter
砸钱	zá qián	to spend big (on sth); to pour a lot of money into sth
考砸	kǎo zá	to flunk; to fail a test
搬砖砸脚	bān zhuān zá jiǎo	to hurt oneself by one's own doing; to boomerang; to shoot oneself in the foot (idiom)
砸锅	zá guō	to fail
砸坏	zá huài	to smash; to shatter
砸碎	zá suì	to pulverize; to smash to bits
砸烂	zá làn	to smash
砸毁	zá huǐ	to destroy; to smash
小婊砸	xiǎo biǎo zá	(slang) little biyatch (variation of 小婊子)
砸醒	zá xǐng	to jolt sb awake
搞砸	gǎo zá	to mess (sth) up; to foul up; to spoil
砸夯	zá hāng	to pound the earth to make a building foundation

Characters sharing the sound component 匝 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
匝 sound part	zā	full circle; to encircle
咂	zā	to suck, to smack the lips