磨

to rub; to grind; to polish; to sharpen; to wear down; to die out; to waste time; to pester; to insist

16 strokes Dict coverage rank #811 U+78E8

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

石 (semantic, “stone”) + 麻 (phonetic, má)

components: 麻石

grind · Heisig RSH #1786

麻 hemp + 石 stone

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Phonetic series: characters sharing the sound component 麻

Siblings built with the same phonetic component 麻 (má) — compare how they read:

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
麻 sound component	má	hemp, flax, sesame; numb
摩	mó	to scour, to rub, to grind; friction
魔	mó	demon, evil spirit; magic, spell
靡	mí	to scatter, to disperse; to divide
糜	mí	rice gruel, congee; mashed
嘛	ma	final exclamatory particle
麽	mó	interrogative particle
縻	mí	harness, halter; to tie up

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
磨制石器	mó zhì shí qì	a polished stone (neolithic) implement
好事多磨	hǎo shì duō mó	the road to happiness is strewn with setbacks (idiom)
磨不开	mò bù kāi	to feel embarrassed
水磨石	shuǐ mó shí	terrazzo
磨嘴皮子	mó zuǐ pí zi	to wear out the skin of one's teeth (idiom); pointlessly blather; to talk incessant nonsen…
磨破嘴皮子	mó pò zuǐ pí zi	to wear out one's lips (idiom); to talk until one is blue in the face; to repeat again and…
球磨机	qiú mó jī	ball mill
磨得开	mò de kāi	to feel unembarrassed; to be at ease; (dialect) to be convinced; to come round
角磨机	jiǎo mó jī	angle grinder
磨脚石	mó jiǎo shí	pumice stone
刀不磨要生锈，人不学要落后	dāo bù mó yào shēng xiù , rén bù xué yào luò hòu	(proverb) a blade will get rusty if it is not sharpened; a man will fall behind if he does…
磨子	mò zi	mill; grain mill; millstone
磨人	mó rén	annoying; bothersome; to fret; to be peevish
磨破嘴皮	mó pò zuǐ pí	to talk until one is blue in the face
磨洋工	mó yáng gōng	to idle on the job
拉磨	lā mò	(of a donkey etc) to turn a millstone; (fig.) to do laborious and monotonous work
磨机	mó jī	milling machine
细磨刀石	xì mò dāo shí	whetstone (for honing knives)
电磨	diàn mò	electric mill (for grinding wheat etc)
消磨时间	xiāo mó shí jiān	to kill time