拆

chāi
扌 + 斥
HSK 2.0Level 5
HSK 3.0Level 5

Definitions

chāi (verb) to tear open; to tear down; to tear apart

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 斥 represents the sound.

Semantic: 扌 Phonetic: 斥

About

拆 is a phono-semantic compound: 扌 (shǒu) gives the meaning of a hand action, and 斥 (chì) the sound. Its core meaning is the physical act of dismantling, tearing open, or taking something apart with hands or tools. It describes actions ranging from opening a sealed envelope or parcel to large-scale demolition of buildings and architectural structures. The hand radical highlights the manual effort required to separate connected parts, destroy a cohesive unit, or break an object down into its constituent pieces, a definition that remains highly literal and active in modern Chinese.

Example Sentences Hide

我拆开了包裹。

Wǒ chāi kāi le bāoguǒ.

I unpacked the package.

他拆掉了旧房子。

Tā chāi diào le jiù fángzi.

He demolished the old house.

工人正在拆迁这片区域。

Gōngrén zhèngzài chāi qiān zhè piàn qūyù.

Workers are demolishing and relocating this area.

请小心拆卸这个机器。

Qǐng xiǎoxīn chāi xiè zhège jīqì.

Please carefully disassemble this machine.

他们决定拆除违章建筑。

Tāmen juédìng chāi chú wéizhāng jiànzhù.

They decided to demolish the illegal construction.

拆散别人的家庭是不道德的。

Chāi sàn biérén de jiātíng shì bù dàodé de.

It is immoral to break up other people's families.

这座城市计划拆迁老旧街区。

Zhè zuò chéngshì jìhuà chāi qiān lǎo jiù jiēqū.

This city plans to demolish and relocate the old blocks.

在拆解复杂问题时需要耐心。

Zài chāi jiě fùzá wèntí shí xūyào nàixīn.

When dismantling complex problems, patience is needed.

Related Characters

Component: 扌

把 提 打 报 接 指 据 拉 持 技 找 推 投 护

Component: 斥

诉 坼 柝 訴 跅 泝

Example Words

拆卸 拆封 拆散 拆穿 拆线 拆迁 拆开 拆除 分拆 拆下 拆借 拆分 拆字 拆东墙补西墙 拆机 拆毁 拆洗 拆台 拆解 挡拆