剔 tī to pick out
to pick out; picky
How to remember 剔: 易 easy + 刂 knife = to pick out. It looks easy until Grandma hands me a small knife and a whole fish full of bones to pick out.
Component breakdown
剔 = 易 easy + 刂 knife
- 易 easy
- 日 sun
- 勿 don’t
- 刂 knife
It looks easy until Grandma hands me a small knife and a whole fish full of bones to pick out.
How it is used
- To pick out and remove - bones, defects, the unwanted - 剔骨 (tī gǔ) to debone, 剔除 (tīchú) to weed out/eliminate.
- 剔牙 (tī yá) = to pick one's teeth.
- 挑剔 (tiāoti) = picky/fault-finding - literally 'picking out' flaws in everything.