罢

2 readings · tap one to hear it

to stop; to cease; to dismiss; to suspend; to quit; to finish

Sound it out + = · + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Stuck in a net 罒, unable to leave 去

Components 罒去

cease · Heisig RSH #1913

net + 去 go

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
欲罢不能	yù bà bù néng	want to stop but can't (idiom); to be unable to stop oneself; to feel an urge to continue
海瑞罢官	Hǎi Ruì bà guān	Hai Rui dismissed from office, 1960 historical play by historian Wu Han 吳晗\|吴晗
静坐罢工	jìng zuò bà gōng	sit-in strike
善罢干休	shàn bà gān xiū	variant of 善罷甘休\|善罢甘休[shan4 ba4 gan1 xiu1]
不提也罢	bù tí yě bà	best not to mention it; drop it; never mind; let's not talk about it
罢市	bà shì	protest strike by merchants
罢黜百家，独尊儒术	bà chù bǎi jiā , dú zūn rú shù	Dismiss the hundred schools, revere only the Confucian (idiom); sole dominant ideology
罢手	bà shǒu	to give up
罢工	bà gōng	a strike; to go on strike
善罢甘休	shàn bà gān xiū	(idiom) to let the matter rest; to just let it go; to take it lying down (usu. used in the…
作罢	zuò bà	to drop (subject etc)
罢教	bà jiào	teacher's strike
罢论	bà lùn	abandoned idea
罢官	bà guān	to dismiss from office; to resign from office
罢了	bà le	a modal particle indicating (that's all, only, nothing much)
罢了	bà liǎo	a modal particle indicating (don't mind it, ok)
罢休	bà xiū	to give up; to abandon (a goal etc); to let sth go; forget it; let the matter drop
罢免	bà miǎn	to remove sb from their post; to dismiss
罢课	bà kè	student strike; to boycott classes
也罢	yě bà	(reduplicated) whether... or...; never mind; fine (indicating acceptance or resignation)

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
罢 sound part	bà	to cease, to finish, to stop, to quit
摆	bǎi	to arrange, to display; pendulum, swing