退く
どく · doku · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to retreat
🦆 どく sounds like duck: you duck aside and back away
Read どく, 退く usually means to step aside or get out of the way: どいて! means move! The kanji 退 is the same one as in 退却 (retreat), so the meaning of drawing back stays in the character whichever reading it takes.
退 — walk radical 辶 + 艮 (stop/halt)
退 combines the walking/movement radical 辶 with 艮, which carries a sense of stopping or turning back. Together they depict the action of moving backward or withdrawing. The original sense of retreating or stepping back has remained stable through history.