The word "干掉" is formed by combining two characters, each contributing a core action-oriented meaning to create a forceful idiom. The first character, "干" (gàn), broadly means "to do" or "to work", but here carries an aggressive, confrontational sense of "to get" or "to deal with". It is directly paired with "掉" (diào), which means "to fall", "to drop", or "to shed", implying a result of removal or elimination. Together, they form a vivid metaphorical compound where the act of "dealing with" someone or something causes it to figuratively "fall away" or be removed, resulting in the modern slang meaning of to kill, defeat, or get rid of.