撤离
chè lí · HSK 6
to evacuate
🚪🏃 撤 withdraw + 离 leave/depart = withdraw and depart (evacuate)
撤 means to withdraw or remove; 离 means to leave or be apart from. Together they form the verb for pulling people or troops out of a location — an organized evacuation rather than a casual exit.
撤 — hand 扌 + 育 yù + 攵 (strike)
撤 combines the hand radical 扌 with 育 (raise/nurture) and 攵 (action/strike), suggesting an action done by hand to remove or take away. Originally written 徹 in some forms, it carried the sense of pulling something through or away. Today it means to withdraw, remove, or retreat.
离 — top 亠 + 凶 + 禸 (animal track)
Originally depicted a long-tailed bird caught in a net, from which the early sense 'oriole' arose. The character was later borrowed phonetically for the unrelated verb meaning 'to leave' or 'be apart from,' which became its dominant modern usage. The original bird sense faded out of everyday use.