消 means “put out, erase, vanish”
けす · kesu
Also: extinguish, blow out, turn off, neutralize
- Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)
- きえる, けす
- On'yomi (Chinese reading)
- ショウ
JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 3 · 10 strokes
The story
Water (氵) poured on a flame until the last flicker is gone. 消す turns off the lights and rubs out mistakes, 消える is to vanish, and the red 消防車 races out to put fires out.
Used in 消える (kieru, to go out/vanish), 消しゴム (keshigomu, eraser), and 消費税 (shouhizei, consumption tax)
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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.