除 means “remove, exclude”

じょ · jo

Also: division (x/3), abolish

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

のぞく

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ジョ, ジ

JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 6 · 10 strokes

The story

A hillside (阝) cleared of what's left over (余). 除 removes: 掃除 (souji) is cleaning, and on New Year's Eve temple bells ring 108 times, the 除夜の鐘, to clear away 108 worldly desires.

Used in 掃除 (souji, cleaning), 削除 (sakujo, deletion), and 除く (nozoku, to exclude)

More from Hands at Work

• 押 push
• 欠 lack
• 束 bundle
• 閉 close
• 折 fold
• 掛 hang
• 取 take
• 組 group
• 置 put
• 構 structure
• 付 attach
• 消 put out

Learn 除 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.