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殪 is a phono-semantic compound; the radical 歹 (death, decay) provides the semantic category, while 壹 gives the pronunciation. Its core meanings are dying, killing, and exterminating, often carrying a violent or definitive connotation in classical Chinese. It was especially used in hunting to describe felling an animal with a single arrow or blow, underscoring the suddenness and finality of death. Thus, the character is a specific classical verb for abrupt cessation of life.
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