消耗
xiāohào · HSK 6
use up
🔋 xiao-hao sounds like show how (fast things drain)
消 means dissolve or vanish, 耗 means expend or waste. Together they describe resources being used up until gone — like a battery losing its charge bit by bit.
消 — water 氵 + 肖 (phonetic)
消 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the water radical 氵 indicates the meaning, while 肖 (xiào) supplies the sound. It originally described water dwindling or melting away, and from there extended to the modern senses of vanishing, dissolving, and dispelling.
耗 — 耒 plow + 毛 hair/fur
Originally written with 耒 (plow) as the semantic component and 毛 (hair) as the phonetic, suggesting the wearing down or consumption of farming tools through use. The meaning extended from depleting resources to the broader senses of 'consume,' 'waste,' and 'news/tidings' (as in 噩耗).