挽回
wǎnhuí · HSK 7
to retrieve; to redeem
🪢↩️ 挽 pull-back + 回 return = pull something back to recover it
挽 means to pull or draw back (as on a rope), and 回 means to return. Together they mean to pull a bad situation back to how it was — to recover or salvage it, like saving a relationship.
挽 — hand radical 扌 + 免 (miǎn, phonetic)
挽 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 gives the meaning 'to pull' or 'draw with the hand', while 免 supplies the sound (miǎn → wǎn). Originally meaning to pull or draw back, it extended to senses like 'to retrieve', 'to lament' (as in 挽歌, a funeral elegy), and 'to roll up' sleeves.
回 — enclosure 囗 + smaller 囗 inside
回 is a pictograph of a swirling whirlpool or coiled spiral, shown as nested squares in modern form. The original meaning was 'to revolve' or 'turn around,' which extended to 'return' and 'a time/occurrence.' It also appears as a phonetic in characters like 茴 and 廻.