剔除
tī chú · HSK 7
to reject
🗑️ 剔 pick out + 除 remove = pick the bad bits out and remove them
剔 (tī) means to pick or pry out, like prying meat off a bone; 除 (chú) means to eliminate. Together they mean singling something out and tossing it: to reject or discard.
除 — left ear/mound 阝 + surplus 余
除 combines the 'mound/steps' radical 阝 (originally 阜, a hill) with 余 as the phonetic. It first meant the steps of a palace, then extended to 'remove' or 'clear away' (as one sweeps steps clean), and later to mathematical 'divide.'