陷

• Physical collapse: Sinking into soft ground or mire; the structural failure of walls, banks, or foundations.
• Entrapment: A pit-trap (noun) or the act of falling into such a snare (verb). In hunting or warfare contexts, this refers specifically to pits rather than nets.
• Military breach: The active forcing of a breach in defenses to capture a city or fortress (e.g., 陷城).
• Situational/Psychological: Falling into an untenable position, predicament, or state of grief; a loss of agency.

Contrast with 沉 (to sink), which typically refers to buoyancy and depth in water; 陷 focuses on the failure of a surface or structural barrier, usually earth.

Tang-period reading: hæ̀m; Fanqie: 戶韽.

Be alert to the shift between passive usage (sinking/falling into) and active usage (breaching/trapping). In military contexts, general dictionary glosses of "sink" may be misleading; translate as "breaching," "storming," or "capturing by force."