막다
mak-da
Block a road, cut off a sentence, head off an accident
The picture Something is set across the path so the flow cannot get any further. 막다 stands across a way so nothing gets through; 뚫다 bores through a blockage so something can.
Where the picture shows up in 막다
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standing across the way
차가 길을 막고 있어요.
cha-ga gi-reul mak-go i-sseo-yo
A car is blocking the road.
A car standing sideways across a narrow alley with the cars behind it stopped dead
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keeping dust from getting in
이 마스크가 먼지를 막아 줘요.
i ma-seu-keu-ga meon-ji-reul ma-ga jwo-yo
This mask keeps the dust out.
Dust flying at your face bouncing off the fabric of the mask and turning back
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stopping words from going further
그 사람이 제 말을 막았어요.
geu sa-ra-mi je ma-reul ma-ga-sseo-yo
He cut me off mid-sentence.
A palm going up in front of your mouth just as the words were coming out
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plugging a hole shut
구멍을 테이프로 막았어요.
gu-meong-eul te-i-peu-ro ma-ga-sseo-yo
I sealed the hole with tape.
Tape laid over a hole in the wall so the draught cannot get through any more
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stopping an event before it arrives
큰 사고를 겨우 막았어요.
keun sa-go-reul gyeo-u ma-ga-sseo-yo
We barely prevented a serious accident.
An arm thrown out in front of a rolling boulder, stopping it right there
An accident is pictured as something flowing toward you; you step in front of it.
All of it in one picture
막다 is the picture of something set across a flow so it can go no further. A car across the alley and the traffic stops; a mask across the dust and none of it gets in; a palm across the words and the sentence ends; tape across the hole and the draught is cut; an arm across the falling thing and the accident does not happen. So wherever 막다 goes, something that was on its way is stopped right at that line.