剷 (chǎn) - To shovel & to scrape

剷Tone 3

chǎn ｜ 13 strokes ｜ radical:

偲嫦

剷 · chǎn

To shovel;

to scrape;

to eradicate;

to uproot;

to level off.

To shovelto scrapeto eradicate

Usage highlights

Shovel snowLevel the groundEradicate weedsScraping toolUproot evilExcavator shovel

Synonyms

  • 铲除— to eradicate; to root out
  • 清除— to clear away; to eliminate

Antonyms

  • 种植— to plant; to cultivate
  • 建立— to build; to establish

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • He shovels snow from the driveway (铲雪).
  • The workers are leveling the ground (铲平地面).
  • The government vowed to eradicate corruption (铲除腐败).
  • She used a shovel to dig a hole (用铲子挖洞).

Collocations

  • Shovel snow(铲雪)
  • Level the ground(铲平)
  • Eradicate weeds(铲除杂草)
  • Scraping tool(铲子)
  • Uproot evil(铲除恶势力)
  • Excavator shovel(挖掘机铲斗)

Idioms

  • To eradicate the roots and destroy the seedlings(斩草除根, sometimes used with 铲 in modern paraphrasing)
  • To uproot and exterminate(铲除净尽)
  • To level mountains and fill seas(铲山填海)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • The character 铲 is strongly associated with manual labor, agriculture, and construction due to its primary meaning of 'shovel'.
  • In a modern political or social context, it can carry a forceful, even violent, connotation of eradication or removal, as in '铲除腐败' (eradicate corruption).
  • Its tool-related meaning makes it a practical, grounded character, not commonly used in personal names due to its strong association with physical work and destruction.

FAQ