攻める
せめる · semeru · JLPT N3 · verb-ichidan
to attack
⚔️ 攻 = 工 work + 攵 striking hand: putting your strikes to work
The radical 攵 marks a hand hitting something, as in 改 and 放. Add 工 (work, craft) and you get 攻, attack. The same kanji appears in 攻撃 (こうげき, attack) and 専攻 (せんこう, major subject: the field you go after).
攻 — 工 (gōng, phonetic) + 攵 (strike/action)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 攵 (a hand holding a stick) gives the meaning of striking or attacking, while 工 supplies the sound. Originally meaning to attack militarily, it later extended to 'work on' or 'study intensively,' as in 攻读.