鍘 (zhá) - To cut with a hay cutter & to chop
鍘 · zhá
To cut with a hay cutter;
to chop;
a kind of guillotine or heavy blade used for cutting fodder or as an execution tool.
To cut with a hay cutterto chopa kind of guillotine or heavy blade used
Usage highlights
hay cutterto cut grassto cut fodderexecution by guillotineguillotine bladehand
Usage & contexts
Examples
- He cut the grass with a hay cutter (用鍘刀鍘草).
- In ancient times, a guillotine was used for executions (用鍘刀行刑).
- The farmer is cutting fodder for the livestock (農夫在鍘飼料).
Collocations
- hay cutter(鍘刀)
- to cut grass(鍘草)
- to cut fodder(鍘飼料)
- execution by guillotine(鍘刑)
- guillotine blade(鍘刀片)
- hand-operated cutter(手搖鍘刀)
Idioms
- To cut with a guillotine(開鍘問斬)
- The blade falls swiftly(鍘刀落下)
- To execute a criminal with a guillotine(鍘殺罪犯)
Cultural background
FAQ- Historically associated with agricultural tools for processing animal fodder.
- Also used as an execution device in imperial China, notably in folk stories like those of Judge Bao (包公) who used a guillotine to execute corrupt officials.
- The character embodies both practical agricultural use and severe judicial punishment.