The kanji 刈 primarily represents the action of cutting or harvesting crops, especially grain like rice. It implies the removal of something from its source, often with a blade or sickle.

・On-yomi (音読み): ガイ (gai) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): 刈（か）る (karu)

⚫︎刈り取る (karitoru) Translation: To reap; to harvest ⚫︎刈り入れ (kariire) Translation: Harvesting (of crops) ⚫︎草刈り (kusakari) Translation: Mowing the grass

The kanji 刈 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The left side is the radical 刂 (katana hen), which means "knife" or "blade," and provides the meaning. The right side is 彡 (san), which represents "hair" or "beard." The combination suggests using a blade to cut or shave something like grain. Therefore, the kanji originally depicts the action of cutting with a knife or sickle.