萎缩
wěisuō · HSK 7
wither
🥀 萎 wilt + 缩 contract = wither and shrink down
Both halves pull the same way: 萎 is a plant wilting, 缩 is contracting or pulling in. Stacked together they mean to shrivel, shrink, or sag — a muscle or economy that 萎缩 has wasted away.
缩 — silk radical 糹 + 宿 (lodge, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The silk radical 糹 carries the meaning, since shrinking and tightening were associated with drawing in cords or fabric. The right side 宿 (sù) supplies the sound. The original sense of binding cloth tight extended to the modern meaning 'to shrink' or 'contract.'