剃 (tì) is a Chinese character meaning “to shave (hair or beard) with a blade”. It is written from 弟 (younger brother) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to shave”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
弟 + 刂
Left–right structure
Structure from: ids-decomposition (⿰弟刂，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：前 7 笔为弟，后 2 笔为刂)
Memory aid
A knife (刂) on the right, and 弟 on the left telling you the sound — dì shifts to tì. The knife is what does the work: it shaves.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 剃头tì tóuto shave the head; to get a haircut剃 = tì
- 剃须刀tì xū dāorazor; shaver剃 = tì
Go deeper
All readings
to shave
to shave (hair or beard) with a blade
用刀刮去毛发。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 剃头tì tóuto shave the head; to get a haircut剃 = tì
- 剃须刀tì xū dāorazor; shaver剃 = tì
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 剃 mean?
剃 (tì) means to shave (hair or beard) with a blade.
How do you pronounce 剃?
It is pronounced tì.
What parts is 剃 made of?
弟 (younger brother) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side. The recorded source is: ids-decomposition (⿰弟刂，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：前 7 笔为弟，后 2 笔为刂). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 剃 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 剃?
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 剃?
Common ones are 剃头 and 剃须刀. The reading of 剃 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.