The word "剿匪" is formed by combining the character "剿", meaning to exterminate or suppress, which is itself composed of the radical "刂" (knife) indicating force and the component "巢" (nest) providing phonetic hint, with the character "匪", meaning bandit, composed of the radical "匚" (container) and the component "非" (non-) primarily for sound; their combination creates a verb-object structure where "剿" acts upon "匪", resulting in the meaning "to suppress bandits".