The word 击败 is formed by combining two characters, each contributing a core meaning to create a new, unified concept. The first character, 击 (jī), carries the fundamental idea of "to strike" or "to attack". The second character, 败 (bài), intrinsically means "to be defeated" or "to fail". Their fusion is logical and direct: the action of striking (击) leads directly to the result of defeating (败), thus forming the complete verb "to defeat" or "to beat". It is a conceptual compound where the first component denotes the means and the second confirms the outcome.