脱
tuō · HSK 4
take off
👕 月 (flesh) + 兑 (exchange) — flesh exchanges its covering, i.e. sheds it
The 月 radical here means flesh/body, and 兑 (duì) gives the sound while hinting at exchange or removal. Together: the body swaps off what covers it — shedding skin, taking off clothes, escaping.
脱 — flesh radical 月 (肉) + 兑 tuì (phonetic)
脱 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The flesh radical 月 (from 肉) signals the body, while 兑 supplies the sound. Originally it meant shedding flesh or skin, like a snake molting, and broadened to mean 'to take off, slip off, or escape.'