销毁
xiāo huǐ · HSK 7
to destroy
🔥 销 = metal radical 钅 + melt down; 毁 = ruin — melt-down + ruin = obliterate
销 carries the metal radical 钅 and means to melt metal; 毁 means to wreck or ruin. Together they name destruction by melting or burning until nothing usable is left.
销 — metal radical 钅 + 肖 xiāo (phonetic)
销 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The metal radical 钅 (金) signals a meaning related to metal, while 肖 supplies the sound xiāo. It originally meant to melt or smelt metal, then extended figuratively to 'dissolve away,' and later to modern senses like 'sell' (move goods away) and 'cancel/expend.'
毁 — 臼 mortar + 工 work + 殳 weapon/strike
Originally depicted striking (殳) something in a mortar (臼) to break it apart, with 工 as a phonetic and semantic helper suggesting the action. The core image is of pounding or smashing, which extended from physical destruction to ruining, slandering, or defaming someone.