摇摇欲坠
yáo yáo yù zhuì · HSK 7
on the verge of collapse
🍂 摇 sway + 摇 sway + 欲 about-to + 坠 fall = swaying, about to fall
Built from 摇摇 (sway-sway, wobbling) plus 欲坠 (desiring/about to drop). The doubled 摇 stresses the unsteady wobble; 坠 means to plummet. Together: so shaky it is on the verge of collapse.
摇 — hand 扌 + 䍃 (phonetic, jar/pottery)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 gives the meaning of physical motion, while 䍃 (depicting a hand over a jar) supplies the sound. The original sense was to shake or sway something with the hand, later broadened to any swinging or rocking motion.
摇 — hand 扌 + 䍃 (phonetic, jar/pottery)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 gives the meaning of physical motion, while 䍃 (depicting a hand over a jar) supplies the sound. The original sense was to shake or sway something with the hand, later broadened to any swinging or rocking motion.
坠 — earth 土 + 队 (phonetic, originally 阜 mound)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 土 'earth' gives the meaning of falling to the ground, while the right side (historically 阜, a mound or cliff) supplied the sound and reinforced the idea of dropping from a height. The original sense 'to fall down' has remained stable into modern Chinese.