tou4屠
Jyutpingtou4
Yaletòuh
Definition
To slaughter animals for food, or to massacre people.
- to slaughter animals for food
- to slaughter or massacre people
neutralfoodwork
How it's used
This character is almost exclusively used as a bound morpheme in formal or technical contexts related to the meat industry. It does not function as a standalone verb in modern spoken Cantonese, where people would use 殺 instead. You will mostly encounter it in compound words describing professional or industrial processes.
Examples
This shop slaughters many pigs every day.
They were the masters responsible for slaughtering in the past.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not use this word to describe killing an animal in a casual or domestic setting, as it implies a systematic or commercial process. Using it to describe killing a pet or a pest will sound bizarrely formal or even violent.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
