东

dong

east, eastern

Simplified form of 東, sun 日 rising behind a tree 木

东道主 host (lit. east-road master); 东京 Tokyo (lit. Eastern capital)

一 : A horizontal stroke representing the horizon; 木: "Tree," symbolizing the eastern direction (ancient Chinese placed wooden ritual tablets eastward)

束

shu

to bind, bundle

结束 to conclude (lit. knot + bind); 光束 light beam (metaph. "bound" light)

tree (木) branches are tied (口) and bound together for easier transportation.

攵

pu

to strike

it is always a hand with nunchuck, which prefers to take action by striking

正

zheng

straight (up)right; correct, proper

a foot is aligned with another foot, in a proper and correct way; a concept of physical alignment seems so "straight", that it has become an abstract virtue in the Japanese language (where 正 also means "justice")

整

zheng

orderly, neat

complete, whole

完整 complete, intact; 整体 the whole (as in a system or entity)

整天 all day; 

to tie in right way wood in bundles and ap the ends so they are easy to carry means to put in order creating a whole unite 

欠

qian

to owe, to lack; yawn

a person is opening his mouth wide to yawn when he lacks energy owing to not enough sleeping

嗽

sou

to cough

咳嗽 cough (the most common usage); 干嗽 dry cough

a mouth (口) tries to swallow a bundle (束) of food, but it gets stuck. One gasps (欠) and cough (嗽) violently to dislodge it!

柬

jian

a letter, note, card

to choose/select

请柬 invitation card (selected guests); 柬帖 formal note

a bundle (束) of things (丷) carefully selected 

Also derived to mean letter, in a sense that only selected words are actually written down when writing a formal letter

练

lian

to practice / train

训练 to train; 军事训练 military training

To make silk, the thread (纟) has to be extracted from the silkworm’s cocoon and this is done by soaking them in boiling water. The time has to be estimated (symbol) correctly and that requires much practice

炼

lian

to smelt, to refine

to temper

炼钢 to smelt steel; 提炼 to extract and refine (e.g., oil, chemicals)

锻炼 to temper the body/mind (e.g., exercise)

精炼 concise (lit. refined to essence)

Using fire (火) to selectively (柬) purify metals, just like refining skills through practice