The kanji 抜 primarily conveys the meaning of "to pull out," "to extract," "to remove," or "to omit." It implies taking something away from a larger whole, whether physically or conceptually. It can also suggest surpassing or exceeding something.

・On-yomi (音読み): バツ (batsu) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): 抜抜く (nu抜ku), 抜抜ける (nu抜keru)

⚫︎歯を抜く Translation: To pull out a tooth. ⚫︎宿題を抜かす Translation: To skip homework; to omit homework. ⚫︎抜群 Translation: Outstanding; preeminent.

The kanji 抜 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is the radical 手 (te), meaning "hand," indicating that the action involves using the hand. The right side is 犮, which gives a hint to the sound and originally represented a dog's running trace. Therefore, 抜 originally depicted using a hand to extract something rapidly. The character evolved to represent not just physical removal but also the act of omitting or surpassing something.