残
cán · HSK 7
to destroy
💣 cán sounds like CAN — what you do to a soda can: crush and destroy it
The left radical 歹 means death or misfortune. The whole character signals something damaged beyond repair — ruined, injured, wrecked.
残 — 歹 (bones/death) + 戔 (small/cut, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 歹 (bare bones, death) gives the meaning of harm or ruin, while 戔 (two 戈 spears, suggesting cutting) supplies the sound. Originally meant to injure or destroy, later extended to 'remnant, leftover' — what remains after damage.