压倒
yā dǎo · HSK 7
to overwhelm
🏋️ 压 press down + 倒 topple = press something until it falls = overwhelm
压 (yā) is to press or apply pressure; 倒 (dǎo) is to fall or topple over. Together: you press down on a rival so hard they topple, a force that overpowers and overwhelms.
压 — 厂 (cliff) + 土 (earth) below
压 is the simplified form of 壓. The original character combined 厭 (phonetic, suggesting 'yā') with 土 (earth) to mean pressing or weighing down on the ground. The modern simplified form keeps 厂 (a cliff or overhang) above 土, visually evoking earth being pressed under a heavy mass.
倒 — person radical 亻 + 到 (to arrive)
倒 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the person radical 亻 gives meaning (an action done by/to a person), while 到 supplies the sound 'dào'. Originally meaning 'to fall over' (a person toppling), it extended to 'invert, upside down, pour out', as when something falls and spills.