打败
dǎbài · HSK 4
to defeat; to overpower
🥊 打 (hit) + 败 (defeat) = strike-and-defeat, i.e. rout an opponent
打 means to hit or strike; 败 means to be defeated or lose. Together 打败 literally reads strike-into-defeat, meaning to beat or rout someone in a contest or fight.
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'.
败 — shell 贝 + strike 攵 (rap/tap)
Originally written with 鼎 (cauldron) plus 攴/攵 (a hand striking), depicting a vessel being smashed — hence 'ruined, defeated.' The 鼎 element was later simplified to 贝 (shell/money), giving the modern form 败. The core meaning shifted from physical breakage to losing, failure, and decay.