救助
きゅうじょ · kyuujo · JLPT N3 · noun
rescue
🛟 救助 = save (救) + help (助): rescue help
救 (kyuu) means to save, as in 救急車 kyuukyuusha, ambulance. 助 (jo) means help, as in 助ける tasukeru, to help. Save plus help gives rescue. Sound hook: kyuu sounds like cue, so help arrives right on cue.
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'.