The word 跛脚 is formed by combining the character 跛, meaning "lame" or "limping", which uses the radical 足 (foot) for its semantic category and 皮 for its phonetic hint, with the character 脚, meaning "foot", which uses the radical 月 (a form of 肉, indicating flesh or body parts) for semantics and 却 for phonetics. This combination directly yields the literal meaning of "lame foot", referring to a limp or lameness.