凿

• Pinyin: záo
• Hanzi breakdown: 凿 = 㔾 (enclosed hollow) + 金 (metal, bottom) — metal tool that creates a hollow

Meaning

To chisel; to bore; to cut or carve into a hard surface using a pointed tool. Also used as a noun for the tool itself (chisel, awl).

Both a verb and a noun. As a verb: 凿洞 (to bore a hole), 凿井 (to dig a well), 凿石 (to chisel stone). In classical Chinese, 凿 can mean 'accurate; irrefutable' in the compound 确凿 (conclusive, well-founded). Encountered in engineering, construction, archaeological, and literary contexts.

Examples

1. 工人用凿子在坚硬的岩壁上凿出一条引水渠道，历时数月终于完工。 Using chisels, workers carved a water-diversion channel into the hard rock wall, and after months of work it was finally completed.
2. 考古队在山腰处凿开一块封堵已久的石板，意外发现了一座保存完好的古墓。 On a mountainside, the archaeological team chiseled open a stone slab that had been sealed for a long time and unexpectedly discovered a well-preserved ancient tomb.
3. 这位雕刻师仅凭一把凿和几十年的经验，便能在木料上雕出栩栩如生的图案。 With only a chisel and decades of experience, this woodcarver can carve lifelike patterns into timber.

Usage Guide

Context: construction, archaeology, craftsmanship, classical literature

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 施工队在混凝土墙上凿出若干管道槽，以便后续铺设电缆和水管。(The construction crew chiselled a number of conduit channels into the concrete wall for subsequent cable and pipe installation.)
• 这块碑文所呈现的证据确凿，足以推翻此前学界长期以来的错误判断。(The evidence presented in this inscription is irrefutable, sufficient to overturn the long-standing erroneous judgement of the academic community.)

Don't Say

• 凿开一个问题 — 凿 applies to physical materials; use 解决 or 剖析 for tackling abstract problems or questions

Origin & History

会意字 — depicts a tool being driven through material; the character itself embodies the act of boring through

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient to present

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal