打车
dǎ chē · HSK 1
to take a taxi
🚕 打 (hit/hail) + 车 (vehicle) = hail a cab
打 here means to hail or summon, not literally hit; 车 is any wheeled vehicle. Same 打 appears in 打电话 (make a call) — a productive verb for initiating an action toward something.
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'.
车 — pictograph of a chariot/cart
车 is a pictograph originally drawn as a top-down view of a chariot, showing the axle, wheels, and carriage box. The ancient form 車 clearly depicted two wheels connected by an axle. It still means vehicle, cart, or car today.