The campaign annihilated over a thousand enemy troops.
Tips
usage
A military verb: to destroy an enemy force completely. Core words are 歼灭 ('to annihilate') and 围歼 ('to surround and wipe out'). It also abbreviates 歼击机 ('fighter aircraft'), as in the J-series jet names.
The 歹 radical signals death and destruction (it pictures shattered bones). It is the meaning anchor: this word is about wiping out and killing off completely.
In the simplified form 千 supplies the sound (qiān → jiān) and a loose hint of large numbers — annihilating a force by the thousand. The traditional form used a different, fuller phonetic.
