kuì

(bound form) (of floodwaters) to break through a dam or dike

(bound form) to break through (a military encirclement); (bound form) to be routed; to be overrun; to fall to pieces; (bound form) to fester; to ulcerate

water (氵) + [sound: kuì] (贵) = water bursting through, collapse

贵 lends the sound kuì; the water radical carries all the meaning — water that bursts through, overwhelms, and leaves ruin behind.

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WaterSemantic
PreciousPhonetic

洪水把河堤冲了,村子里全是水。

hóng shuǐ bǎ hé dī chōng kuì le, cūn zi lǐ quán shì shuǐ.

The floodwaters broke through the riverbank, and the whole village was flooded.

敌军在我方的攻击下全线退。

dí jūn zài wǒ fāng de gōng jī xià quán xiàn kuì tuì.

The enemy army was routed across the entire front under our side's attack.

Words with 溃

一触即溃

yī chù jí kuì

to collapse on the first encounter

千里之堤,溃于蚁穴

qiān lǐ zhī dī , kuì yú yǐ xué

lit. an ant hole may cause the collapse of a great dike (idiom)

崩溃

bēng kuì

to collapse; to crumble; to fall apart

击溃

jī kuì

to defeat; to smash; to rout

溃不成军

kuì bù chéng jūn

(idiom) (of troops) to be utterly routed and dispersed

溃兵

kuì bīng

routed troops; defeated and dispersed troops

溃坝

kuì bà

(of a dam) to be breached; to burst

溃败

kuì bài

to be utterly defeated; to be routed

溃散

kuì sàn

(of troops) to be routed and dispersed

溃敌

kuì dí

to rout the enemy

溃决

kuì jué

(of a dike or dam) to burst

溃烂

kuì làn

to fester; to ulcerate

More characters with 氵