How to Write 剁 (duò) — Meaning “to chop; to mince”

Imagine you have a big ear of corn (朵) and you chop it into pieces with a knife (刂) to make a salad. The action of "duò" sounds like "dough" — think of chopping dough with a knife.

The left part 朵 is wider, and the knife radical on the right is narrow — keep the 刂 stroke vertical and straight. A common mistake is writing the left part too tall or forgetting to make the horizontal stroke of 朵 connect clearly; ensure the top "几" shape is balanced.

剁 (duò) specifically means chopping or mincing food with a downward motion, like chopping meat. 刎 (wěn) means to cut one's throat (as in suicide), and 刑 (xíng) means punishment or torture — they all use the knife radical but have very different meanings and contexts.

剁 is common in cooking contexts, like 剁肉 (chop meat) or 剁碎 (mince). In internet slang, 剁手 (literally "chop off hands") is a humorous expression for impulsive shopping — people jokingly say they want to chop off their hands to stop spending money.

Common words containing 剁 include: 剁肉 (duò ròu) — to chop meat; 剁碎 (duò suì) — to mince; to chop into pieces; 剁手 (duò shǒu) — impulsive shopping (slang); to chop off hands.