掃

Ideogrammatic compound:

手 — hand

帚 — broom

The character depicts a hand holding a broom, visually encoding the act of sweeping.

This makes 掃 one of the clearest examples of iconic semantic transparency in Chinese characters.

掃蕩 (소탕) — to sweep clean; to suppress thoroughly

一掃 (일소) — to wipe out at once

掃除 (청소) — to clean; to eliminate

掃 carries agency — someone does the sweeping.

Often implies decisiveness, finality, effort.

Stronger and more aggressive than neutral “removal” verbs.

Frequently used in:

- political language

- military writing

- moral and spiritual discourse

Semantic relatives:

帚 — broom

掃蕩 — suppression, purge

除 — remove, eliminate

消 — disappear, fade

滅 — extinguish

Conceptual contrast:

掃 — active, forceful clearing

消 — passive or natural disappearance