Dong Chinese dictionary

zhāi

pluck, pick

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 啇 represents the sound.

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu

hand

啇 Sound component

dì

stalk, stem, root

摘 and 啇 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.摘 /*tˤrek/
啇 /*teːɡ/

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

zhāi

pluck, pick; select; specify; to take; to borrow; to pick (flowers, fruit etc); to pluck; to select; to remove; to take off (glasses, hat etc)

Most common words with 摘

Sources