投
tóu · HSK 4
throw
🎯 hand 扌+ 殳 weapon = hurl a spear; sounds like 'toe' you kick with
投 combines 扌(hand) with 殳(an ancient pole-weapon), giving the core sense of hurling something. Modern uses extend from physical throwing to figurative casting: 投票 cast a vote, 投资 throw in capital, 投降 throw down arms = surrender.
投 — hand radical 扌 + weapon 殳
Originally a pictograph of a hand (扌) throwing or hurling a weapon or staff (殳). The core meaning 'to throw, cast, hurl' extended over time to figurative senses like 'to invest,' 'to deliver,' or 'to throw oneself into' something.