破
pò · HSK 3
tear
💔 破 = 石 stone + 皮 skin/surface — stone breaks the surface
The left radical 石 means stone; the right 皮 means skin or hide. A stone striking a hide tears and splits it, giving the senses tear, break, defeat, expose. 皮 (pí) also hints at the reading pò.
破 — stone 石 + skin/hide 皮
破 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 石 (stone) gives the meaning 'to break, smash,' since stones were used to crack things, while 皮 (pí) supplies the sound. The original sense of breaking stone broadened to mean 'broken,' 'damaged,' or 'to defeat.'