to extinguish

to put out (fire); to quench; to stop burning; to go out (of fire, lamp etc); to come to an end; to wither away; to die out; Taiwan pr. [xi2]

fire (火) + breath ceasing (息) = extinguish

息 carries the idea of breath ceasing or coming to rest, so when fire (火) breathes its last, it is extinguished. Together they paint a flame that has simply stopped breathing.

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BreathSemantic
FireSemantic

请把蜡烛掉,我要睡觉了。

qǐng bǎ là zhú xī diào, wǒ yào shuì jiào le。

Please put out the candle, I'm going to sleep.

风太大,火堆的火一直不了。

fēng tài dà, huǒ duī de huǒ yī zhí xī bu liǎo。

The wind is too strong; the campfire just won't go out.

Words with 熄

吹熄

chuī xī

to blow out (a flame)

智熄

zhì xī

(slang) extremely foolish; beyond stupid (pun on 窒息[zhi4 xi1])

熄灯

xī dēng

turn out the lights

熄屏

xī píng

variant of 息屏[xi1 ping2]

熄灭

xī miè

to stop burning

熄火

xī huǒ

(of fire, lamp etc) to go out

More characters with 火