打球
dǎqiú · HSK 1
play a ball game using arms/hands
🏀 打 = hit/play + 球 = ball; literally 'hit-ball' for any hand/arm ball sport
打 (dǎ) is the all-purpose verb for striking or playing with hands. 球 (qiú) means ball. Pair them and you get the generic verb for hand/arm ball games — basketball, tennis, volleyball — distinct from 踢球 (kick-ball) for soccer.
打 — hand radical 扌 + nail 丁
打 combines the hand radical 扌 (action with the hand) with 丁 (originally a nail), suggesting striking or hitting with the hand. 丁 also serves as a phonetic hint in older readings. The meaning broadened from 'to strike' to a general verb for many hand-based actions, like 打电话 'make a phone call'.
球 — jade radical 玉/王 + qiu 求 (phonetic)
球 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 王 is the 'jade' radical, indicating the original meaning: a fine piece of jade or a jade ornament. The right side 求 supplies the sound 'qiu'. Over time the meaning broadened from a jade sphere to any round object, and today it most commonly means 'ball' or 'globe'.