# 壊 break

土 (earth) + (UFO) + 衣 (cloth)
★★★☆☆
16 strokes

## Onyomi

KAI | That KITE-eating tree broke my KITE!

## Mnemonic

| The cloth fell from the UFO and broke when it hit the earth.

## Kunyomi

( を ) こわ＊す | I smash something , I break something. ★★★☆☆
( が ) こわ＊れる | something doesn't work anymore: your TV, your PSP, your dishwasher. Call the repair-person! ★★★☆☆

## Jukugo

壊れ物(こわれもの) | fragile thing ★★★☆☆ 壊 (break) + 物 (animal / thing) = 壊れ物 (fragile thing)
崩壊(ほうかい) | collapse ★☆☆☆☆ 崩 (collapse) + 壊 (break) = 崩壊 (collapse) a collapse- said of a building, but also (figuratively) like 'The collapse of communism.'
破壊(はかい) | Destruction. ★☆☆☆☆ 破 (rend) + 壊 (break) = 破壊 ( Destruction.) Destruction. Ususaly used about bombs, or 'President Bush destroyed the economy,'. . . pretty much the same circumstances you'd use the English word. (BOOBOO: you can't use する with this one, for some reason. It's one of those nouns you can't verb)

## Lookalikes

| Meaning | Hint | Radical
--- | --- | --- | ---
聴 | listen to | EAR | 耳
壊 | break | GROUND | 土
懐 | nostalgia | HEART | 心
徳 | virtue | GO | 行

You listen with your EARS.

You break a TV on the hard GROUND.

You are nostalgic with your HEART.

You GO along the path of virtue.

## Synonyms

downfall 没落 滅亡 崩壊 破壊 絶滅
smash 壊す 壊れる 砕く 破壊 滅ぼす つぶす 撲滅 破る 割る 割く 裂く