The word 挣钱 is formed by combining two characters: 挣, which conveys the idea of exerting effort or labor to earn or gain something, and 钱, which means money or currency. Together, they create a compound where the first character depicts the active process of striving, and the second specifies the object of that effort. It is a direct, semantic fusion where the action and its goal are placed side-by-side to form a single concept meaning "to earn money".