Definitions

cuān iron, pick, poker

Etymology phono-semantic

metal

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

combines the metal radical with the phonetic (cuān) to form a phono-semantic compound naming a metallic piercing tool. Its traditional form uses the unsimplified radical and the full phonetic . Historically, it designated a metal ice chisel or pickaxe for breaking through thick ice, and today it refers broadly to a metal implement for ice-cutting and agricultural piercing tasks.