梳

shū · HSK 7

to comb

💇 shū sounds like 'shoe' — but a 梳 grooms hair, not feet: a comb

梳 (shū) is a comb, or the act of combing. The wood radical 木 on the left marks it as a wooden tool; the right side 疏 lends the shū sound and the idea of spacing out (teeth set apart, like a comb's).

梳 — wood radical 木 + 流 (without 氵)
梳 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The wood radical 木 indicates the material, since combs were traditionally carved from wood. The right side 疏-like component (originally related to 流) suggests the sound and the idea of flowing or smoothing through, fitting a comb that glides through hair.

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