消防
しょうぼう · shoubou · JLPT N3 · noun
fight
🚒🔥 消防 = extinguish (消) + prevent (防): put fires out and ward them off
消 means to erase or extinguish, as in 消す (kesu, to put out). 防 means to defend or prevent, as in 防ぐ (fusegu). Together they name both halves of the job: extinguishing fires and preventing them. Shoubou also echoes show-bow.
消 — water 氵 + 肖 (phonetic)
消 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the water radical 氵 indicates the meaning, while 肖 (xiào) supplies the sound. It originally described water dwindling or melting away, and from there extended to the modern senses of vanishing, dissolving, and dispelling.
防 — mound radical 阝(阜) + 方 fāng (phonetic)
防 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left element 阝 (from 阜) depicts a mound or earthen embankment, suggesting barriers and defense. The right element 方 supplies the sound. Together they evoke a dike or rampart that guards against floods or attacks, hence 'to guard, prevent, defend'.