Meaning
削 means to shave, pare, reduce, or delete. The physical sense is direct — sharpening a pencil with a knife, chiseling stone, whittling wood down to shape. The abstract sense reaches further: slashing a budget, trimming a manuscript, erasing a digital file. Both land on the same idea: deliberate reduction, removing what isn't needed.
削 has two parts. On the left, 肖 suggests something diminishing — a form shrinking toward a lesser version of itself. On the right, 刂 is the knife radical, a condensed form of 刀. The pairing is direct: a blade taking a little more off with each pass, making the object thinner and lighter — or, at the limit, removing it entirely.
削 turns up wherever something is cut back or removed: documents edited, budgets slashed, files deleted, craftsmen shaping wood. Two idioms show its range — 骨を削る (hone wo kezuru, "to shave the bones") for grinding, exhausting work, and 気を削ぐ (ki wo sogu) for killing someone's motivation. Nine strokes. Jōyō kanji, secondary school level. The radical 刂 sits on the right — standard placement for kanji built around cutting and dividing.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
The on'yomi is サク (SAKU). It appears in formal compound words — administrative decisions, editorial revision, technical processes. In office or academic writing, whenever 削 appears inside a multi-kanji compound, サク is almost certainly the reading.
- 削除 (sakujo) — deletion, removal; used for files, records, accounts, or passages of text
- 削減 (sakugen) — reduction, curtailment; applied to budgets, headcount, or expenditures
- 添削 (tensaku) — correction and revision of written work, typically performed by a teacher or editor
- 掘削 (kussaku) — excavation, drilling; the act of boring into earth or rock
- 切削 (sessaku) — machining, cutting; an engineering and manufacturing term
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
Two kun'yomi: けず(る) (kezuru) and そ(ぐ) (sogu). These native verbs appear when 削 stands alone rather than inside a compound.
けずる (kezuru) is the more common of the two. It covers shaving or whittling a physical object, and also the abstract trimming of content, budgets, or schedules:
- 鉛筆を削る (enpitsu wo kezuru) — to sharpen a pencil
- 削り節 (kezuribushi) — dried bonito shavings (katsuobushi), used in Japanese cooking
- 原稿を削る (genkō wo kezuru) — to trim or pare down a manuscript
そぐ (sogu) is narrower in scope. It describes cutting something at an angle, or — more commonly in practice — wearing down someone's spirit or enthusiasm. Mostly metaphorical:
- 気を削ぐ (ki wo sogu) — to dampen someone's enthusiasm or spirit
- 竹を削ぐ (take wo sogu) — to shave or split bamboo at an angle
Common Words & Compounds
Key compounds and collocations, grouped by context:
Digital & Administrative Use:
- 削除 (sakujo) — deletion, removal; the standard word for deleting files, messages, or database records
- 一括削除 (ikkatsu sakujo) — batch delete, bulk removal
- 削除キー (sakujo kī) — the delete key on a keyboard
Business & Finance:
- 削減 (sakugen) — reduction, cutback; applied to costs, budgets, or workforce
- コスト削減 (kosuto sakugen) — cost reduction, cost-cutting
- 人員削減 (jin'in sakugen) — workforce reduction, downsizing
Writing & Education:
- 添削 (tensaku) — correction and revision of written work, especially essays or compositions
- 添削指導 (tensaku shidō) — writing correction guidance offered by a teacher or tutor
Engineering & Construction:
- 掘削 (kussaku) — excavation, drilling into earth or rock
- 削岩機 (sakuganki) — rock drill, jackhammer
- 切削 (sessaku) — machining, cutting (used in metalworking and manufacturing)
Everyday Life & Idioms:
- 鉛筆削り (enpitsu kezuri) — pencil sharpener
- 削り節 (kezuribushi) — katsuobushi; paper-thin bonito flakes used as a cooking ingredient
- 骨を削る (hone wo kezuru) — to work oneself to the bone; to exhaust oneself through hard work (idiom)
Example Sentences
誤ってファイルを削除してしまった。
Ayamatte fairu wo sakujo shite shimatta.
— I accidentally deleted the file.
予算を大幅に削減する必要がある。
Yosan wo ōhaba ni sakugen suru hitsuyō ga aru.
— The budget needs to be cut significantly.
先生が私の作文を添削してくれた。
Sensei ga watashi no sakubun wo tensaku shite kureta.
— The teacher corrected and revised my essay for me.
鉛筆を削って先を尖らせた。
Enpitsu wo kezutte saki wo togaraseta.
— I sharpened the pencil to a fine point.
あの批判は彼女のやる気を削いだ。
Ano hihan wa kanojo no yaruki wo soida.
That criticism dampened her motivation.
この道路は山を掘削して作られた。
Kono dōro wa yama wo kussaku shite tsukurareta.
This road was built by excavating through the mountain.
会社は人件費削減のために社員を減らした。
Kaisha wa jinkenhi sakugen no tame ni shain wo herashita.
— The company cut staff to bring down labor costs.
原稿から不要な部分を削った。
Genkō kara fuyō na bubun wo kezutta.
— I trimmed the unnecessary parts from the manuscript.
彼は睡眠を削って残業し続けた。
Kare wa suimin wo kezutte zangyō shi tsuzuketa.
— He kept working overtime by cutting into his sleep time.
削り節で取った出汁は風味が豊かだ。
Kezuribushi de totta dashi wa fūmi ga yutaka da.
— Broth made from bonito flakes has a rich, deep flavor.
Memory Tip
Picture a craftsman with a knife (刂) working a rough block of wood. Each pass of the blade takes a little more off — the block grows lighter, thinner, closer to the final shape. The left component 肖 reinforces this: something diminishing, a form becoming a reduced version of itself.
Take that image into a Japanese kitchen. Someone draws a blade across a block of dried fish, producing paper-thin sheets of katsuobushi (削り節) that drift down like ash. Same motion, different material — each stroke removes a little more.
That same logic runs through every context where 削 appears. A budget is 削減. A file is 削除. A student's essay is 添削. A pencil is 削る. The blade — real or figurative — pares away what isn't needed, leaving only what belongs.