脱ぐ
ぬぐ · nugu · JLPT N5 · verb-godan
to take off (clothes)
👕 nugu sounds like nude-goo: clothes come off and you are nude
The nu- of nugu echoes the nu- of nude, which is where taking clothes off leads. The kanji 脱 also means to escape or shed, as in 脱出 (escape), so 脱ぐ is shedding your clothes.
脱 — flesh radical 月 (肉) + 兑 tuì (phonetic)
脱 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The flesh radical 月 (from 肉) signals the body, while 兑 supplies the sound. Originally it meant shedding flesh or skin, like a snake molting, and broadened to mean 'to take off, slip off, or escape.'