cì
to stab; prick; thorn; splinter
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仙人掌的刺很锋利。
xiān rén zhǎng de cì hěn fēng lì.
The spines of the cactus are very sharp.
他被蜜蜂蜇了，身上起了很多刺。
tā bèi mì fēng zhēng le, shēn shang qǐ le hěn duō cì.
He was stung by a bee and got a lot of stings on his body.
这个笑话太刺耳了，我不想听。
zhè ge xiào huà tài cì ěr le, wǒ bù xiǎng tīng.
This joke is too harsh, I don't want to listen.
扎 (zhā)
stab
穿 (chuān)
pierce
赞 (zàn)
praise
颂 (sòng)
eulogize
The Chinese character 刺 (cì) for "to stab" or "to pierce" is composed of two parts: the radical 戈 (gē), which represents a weapon, and the phonetic component 乞 (qǐ). The radical 戈 is a pictograph of a spear or halberd, and it is used in many other characters related to weapons or violence, such as 战 (zhàn, "to fight"), 杀 (shā, "to kill"), and 伤 (shāng, "to injure"). The phonetic component 乞 is a pictograph of a person kneeling and begging, and it is used in many other characters related to asking or requesting, such as 求 (qiú, "to ask for"), 请 (qǐng, "to invite"), and 愿 (yuàn, "to wish").The combination of the radical 戈 and the phonetic component 乞 creates the character 刺, which represents the action of stabbing or piercing with a weapon. The character 刺 can also be used figuratively to mean "to criticize" or "to satirize", as in the phrase 讽刺 (fěng cì, "satire").
