搞
gǎo · HSK 5
to do; to make
🔧 搞 = 扌(hand) + 高(tall/high); hand reaching high to get things done
The hand radical 扌shows action; 高 (gāo, tall) also lends the sound. So 搞 is hands-on doing — to handle, set up, or work something out. Common in casual speech: 搞定 = get it done.
搞 — hand radical 扌 + 高 (gāo, tall)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌on the left signals an action done with the hands, while 高 on the right gives the sound (gāo → gǎo). Originally meaning to do or make by hand, it broadened in modern Chinese to a general verb meaning to do, get, or carry out.