Definitions
- 1. to chop
- 2. to cut down
- 3. to throw sth at sb
Character focus
Stroke order
Word relationships
Related words
4 itemsto cut
Both involve cutting, but 切 means to slice or cut with a knife, while 砍 means to chop or cut down with an axe or heavy blade.
to hack
Both mean to chop, but 劈 emphasizes splitting along the grain or lengthwise, while 砍 is more general chopping.
to chop up (meat etc)
Both mean to chop, but 剁 specifically refers to mincing or chopping into small pieces, like chopping meat or vegetables.
to cut down
Both can mean to cut down, but 伐 is more formal and often used for cutting down trees, while 砍 is more common and general.
Usage notes
Collocations
Common collocations: 砍树 (chop down a tree), 砍柴 (chop firewood), 砍价 (bargain/haggle over price).
Common mistakes
Learners often confuse 砍 (chop/cut down) with 切 (cut/slice). 砍 is for heavy, downward strikes with an axe or large knife, while 切 is for precise cutting with a knife.
Example Sentences
2 shown他用斧头 砍 树。
他 砍 倒樹。
Sentence data courtesy of Tatoeba.org. AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.
Words Containing 砍
wanton destruction of forested lands
to hew
to wound with a blade or hatchet
to bargain
machete
to chat (1980s Beijing slang)
to chop off
to chop wood
to hack to death
to attack with a bladed weapon
to decapitate; to behead
to regard decapitation as no more important than the wind blowing off your hat (idiom)
lit. sharpening the axe won't make the wood-splitting take longer (idiom)