破る
やぶる · yaburu · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to defeat
📄 破 = stone 石 + skin 皮: a rock rips the skin, so it tears and breaks
Same 破 as in 破壊 (destruction). It can mean tearing paper, breaking a promise or a rule, or defeating an opponent. Sound hook: yaburu sounds like yabba-RIP!
破 — stone 石 + skin/hide 皮
破 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 石 (stone) gives the meaning 'to break, smash,' since stones were used to crack things, while 皮 (pí) supplies the sound. The original sense of breaking stone broadened to mean 'broken,' 'damaged,' or 'to defeat.'