破案
pò àn · HSK 7
to solve a case
🔍 破 break/crack + 案 case = crack the case (solve it)
破 means to break or crack; 案 is a legal case or, in older usage, a desk or table. Crack the 案 and you solve it. The dual gloss comes from 案 once naming a low writing table, so a worn 案 reads as a shabby old table.
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.'