删 (shān) is a Chinese character meaning “to delete”. It is written from 册 (bamboo slips bound together; a volume, a booklet) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “to delete”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
册 + 刂
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字：删，剟也。从刀、册（现代字形拆分经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核对：册 5 画 + 刂 2 画 = 7 画）
Memory aid
A bound bundle of bamboo slips (册) with a knife (刂) at its side. To fix a text back then you scraped the wrong graph off the slip — you deleted it.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 删除shān chúto delete; to remove删 = shān
- 删掉shān diàoto delete it; to cross it out删 = shān
Go deeper
All readings
to delete
to delete; to cut out; to strike out (words, files, content)
去掉文字或内容；删去、删掉。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 删除shān chúto delete; to remove删 = shān
- 删掉shān diàoto delete it; to cross it out删 = shān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 删 mean?
删 (shān) means to delete; to cut out; to strike out (words, files, content).
How do you pronounce 删?
It is pronounced shān.
What parts is 删 made of?
册 (bamboo slips bound together; a volume, a booklet) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：删，剟也。从刀、册（现代字形拆分经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核对：册 5 画 + 刂 2 画 = 7 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 删 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 删?
刀. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 删?
Common ones are 删除 and 删掉. The reading of 删 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.