How to Write 铩 (shā) — Meaning “Long spear; to moult or shed feathers”

Imagine a metal spear (钅) that kills (杀) a bird, causing its feathers to fall off — this captures both the "spear" and "shed feathers" meanings. You can also remember the word 铩羽 (shā yǔ) by picturing a spear hitting wings, making the feathers drop.

The left radical 钅 is written with 5 strokes: a short left-falling stroke, then three horizontal strokes, and finally a vertical lift (提). The right part 杀 has 6 strokes: first a left-falling stroke, a right-falling stroke, a horizontal, a vertical, and two left-falling strokes. A common mistake is to confuse the right side with 杀 in other characters — make sure the vertical stroke in 杀 goes through the top crossing.

While 铩 has the metal radical and the right component 杀, 钙 (gài) uses 丐 and 钚 (bù) uses 不 on the right — both are names of chemical elements. 铩 is not a chemical element but a weapon or action (to shed feathers), and it appears mainly in literary idioms rather than everyday vocabulary.

铩 is rarely used alone and appears mostly in the idiom 铩羽而归 (shā yǔ ér guī), meaning to return in defeat after a failure, originally describing a bird losing its feathers. It is a literary and formal expression, often found in news headlines or classical-style writing, so learners may not encounter it in daily conversation.

Common words containing 铩 include: 铩羽而归 (shā yǔ ér guī) — To return in failure; to return defeated; 铩羽 (shā yǔ) — To be defeated; to lose feathers; 铩翎 (shā líng) — To lose feathers; to be frustrated.