Chinese symbol for “erase”
抹杀
mǒ shā
Traditional: 抹殺
to erase; to cover traces; to obliterate evidence; to expunge
The closest CC-CEDICT match for erase is 抹杀 (mǒ shā), defined as: to erase; to cover traces; to obliterate evidence; to expunge; to blot out; to suppress.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “erase”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 擦除 | cā chú | to erase |
| 洗 | xǐ | to wash; to bathe; to develop (photographs) |
| 洗雪 | xǐ xuě | to erase; to wipe out (a previous humiliation etc) |
| 擦写 (擦寫) | cā xiě | to erase |
| 抹 | mǒ | to smear; to wipe |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 抹杀.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 涂抹 (塗抹) | tú mǒ | to paint; to smear |
| 抹黑 | mǒ hēi | to discredit; to defame |
| 抹布 | mā bù | cleaning rag; also pr. [mo3 bu4] |
| 抹煞 | mǒ shā | variant of 抹杀 (mǒ shā) |
| 拐弯抹角 (拐彎抹角) | guǎi wān mò jiǎo | lit. going round the curves and skirting the corners (idiom); fig. to speak in a roundabout way |
| 自杀 (自殺) | zì shā | to kill oneself; to commit suicide |
| 杀人 (殺人) | shā rén | to kill a person; to commit murder |
| 谋杀 (謀殺) | móu shā | to murder; to assassinate |
See also: Japanese symbol for “erase”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.