窜 implies panicked, chaotic movement — animals fleeing, fire leaping, people running in terror. It also means 'to tamper with' in 篡改/窜改 (cuàngǎi). Don't confuse with 蹿 (cuān), which means to leap upward.
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穴 (cave/hole) + 串 (string/skewer) — imagine a rat threading through holes in a wall, scurrying from one to the next.
