救う
すくう · sukuu · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to rescue from
🛟 sukuu sounds like scoop: you scoop someone out of trouble
The kanji 救 combines 求 (to seek or ask for) with 攵 (action), so it means to act when someone asks for help. Say すくう like scoop: to rescue is to scoop someone out of danger.
救 — 求 (seek/phonetic) + 攵 (strike/action)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The right side 攵 (a hand holding a stick) gives the action sense of intervening or stopping, while 求 supplies the sound 'jiu'. Originally meaning to halt or stop something bad, it extended to 'rescue, save, aid'.