Abarim Publications' online Biblical Hebrew Dictionary
כתת
The verb כתת (katat) means to beat or hammer, but with the footnote that the result is usually a heap of fragments. Most famously, the golden calf was "beaten" so violently by Moses that he converted it to potable powder (Deuteronomy 9:21). This same verb is used in the famous cry to beat swords into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4), and also when the opposite is proposed, namely to beat plowshares into swords (Joel 3:10). Potter's vessels get pummeled to dust (Isaiah 30:14), testicles may end up crushed (Leviticus 22:24), and a gate or two is ruined (Isaiah 24:12). Nations crush each other (2 Chronicles 15:6), warriors do likewise (Jeremiah 46:5), even man in general by the sheer nature of life (Job 4:20).
Derivatives of this verb are:
- The adjective כתית (katit), meaning beaten, but occurs only in the combination "beaten oil," denoting a costly olive oil (Exodus 29:40, Leviticus 24:2).
- The feminine noun מכתה (mekitta), meaning the crushed or pulverized (Isaiah 30:14).