The Chinese word **削弱** is a compound verb formed through the combination of two morphemes: **削** (xuē), which means "to cut, pare, or reduce," and **弱** (ruò), which means "weak" or "weakness." This formation follows a common grammatical pattern in Chinese known as a **resultative verb complement**, where the first character (**削**) describes the action (cutting/reducing), and the second character (**弱**) directly states the result or outcome of that action (becoming weak). Therefore, the combined meaning of **削弱** is "to weaken" or "to undermine," literally conceptualized as "to reduce something until it becomes weak."