刮 (guā) is a Chinese character meaning “to scrape”. It is written from 舌 (tongue) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “to scrape; (of wind) to blow”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
舌 + 刂
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS ⿰舌刂 of the modern simplified form; leaf strokes 6+2 cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data (舌 6, 刂 2, 刮 8)
Memory aid
A tongue (舌) with a knife (刂) held right beside it — the blade scrapes along the surface. That scraping is 刮: to scrape, and what the wind does to your face.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 刮风guā fēngto be windy; (of wind) to blow刮 = guā
- 刮胡子guā hú zito shave (one's beard)刮 = guā
Go deeper
All readings
to scrape
to scrape; to shave; to smear on; (of wind) to blow
用刀等贴着物体表面移动，去掉表面的东西；也指风吹。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 刮风guā fēngto be windy; (of wind) to blow刮 = guā
- 刮胡子guā hú zito shave (one's beard)刮 = guā
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 刮 mean?
刮 (guā) means to scrape; to shave; to smear on; (of wind) to blow.
How do you pronounce 刮?
It is pronounced guā.
What parts is 刮 made of?
舌 (tongue) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰舌刂 of the modern simplified form; leaf strokes 6+2 cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data (舌 6, 刂 2, 刮 8). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 刮 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 刮?
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 刮?
Common ones are 刮风 and 刮胡子. The reading of 刮 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.