搜查
soū chá · HSK 7
to search
🔍 搜 (search) + 查 (investigate) = to search and inspect, like a police search
搜 means to seek or hunt for; 查 means to check or investigate. Together 搜查 is the thorough searching a detective or officer does. The sound soū chá rhymes with the two syllables stacking: sou-cha.
搜 — hand radical 扌 + 叟 sǒu (old man)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 gives the meaning, indicating an action done with the hand, while 叟 supplies the sound. Originally meaning to grope or feel for something by hand, it extended to the modern sense of searching or seeking.
查 — wood 木 + sun-on-tree 旦-like 且
Originally a variant form related to 楂 (a type of raft or wooden float), combining 木 (tree/wood) with 且 as phonetic. Over time it shifted to mean 'to inspect' or 'investigate,' likely through the idea of examining wood or tallies. The reading chá for 'check' became dominant in modern usage.