遮盖
zhē gài · HSK 7
to hide
🙈 遮 block + 盖 lid = put a lid over to block from view = cover up, hide
Both characters mean cover: 遮 is to screen or block, 盖 is a lid or to cap. Doubled up, they stress a thorough covering — hiding something or covering one's tracks.
遮 — 辶 walk radical + 庶 phonetic
遮 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 辶 (walk/movement) gives the meaning of blocking or intercepting along a path, while 庶 supplies the sound (shù → zhē). Originally meaning to obstruct or bar the way, it broadened to today's senses of covering, hiding, or shielding.
盖 — grass 艹 + 盍 (cover/lid)
Originally written 葢, this character combines the grass radical 艹 with 盍 ('to cover'), which itself shows a lid over a vessel. It first referred to a thatched grass cover or lid, then broadened to mean 'to cover' generally, and later extended to surnames and the conjunction 'thereupon'.