殴打
ōudǎ · HSK 7
beat up
👊🥊 殴打 = 殴 (strike) + 打 (hit) — two hitting words stacked, so it means beat up
Both characters carry the sense of striking, so doubling them intensifies to a full beating. 打 (dǎ) is the everyday verb to hit; 殴 (ōu) is the heavier, more violent strike.
打 — hand radical 扌 + nail 丁
打 combines the hand radical 扌 (action with the hand) with 丁 (originally a nail), suggesting striking or hitting with the hand. 丁 also serves as a phonetic hint in older readings. The meaning broadened from 'to strike' to a general verb for many hand-based actions, like 打电话 'make a phone call'.