The Chinese word "洗手" is formed by combining the character "洗", meaning "to wash", with the character "手", meaning "hand", where the first character denotes an action and the second specifies the object of that action, resulting in a compound that literally and conceptually represents the act of washing one's hands. This structure exemplifies a common method in Chinese word formation where two meaningful characters are joined to create a new term with a transparent and direct meaning derived from the sum of its parts.