King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “slashing”

Romaji: nadegiri
slashing (with the blade pressed against the object)

In Japanese, slashing is , read (nadegiri).

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.

Meanings

  1. n slashing (with the blade pressed against the object)
  2. n mowing down (the enemy); cutting down (one after the other)
  3. n clean sweep; sweeping conquest

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

beheading, kill, murder
on: ザン、サン、セン、ゼン
kun: き.る
11 strokes

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ざんしん zanshinnovel; original; new
きる kiruto kill (a human) using a blade (sword, machete, knife, etc.); to slice (off); to lop (off)
ざんしゅ zanshudecapitation
つじぎり tsujigiriattacking a passerby with a sword (to test its sharpness or one's skill); samurai who tries out his sword on a passerby
ざんさつ zansatsukilling with a sword (knife, dagger, etc.); slaying; putting to the sword
ためしぎり tameshigiritrying out a new sword or blade (originally on someone, but now on soaked straw targets)

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.