towards, fit, match

對 is composed of 丵 (thicket), 土 (earth), and 寸 (inch). 丵 depicts a dense clump of vegetation, 土 represents land or ground, and 寸 represents a hand in action. 對 conveys using hands to clear away weeds from the soil, pointing straight ahead toward the path being cleared—thus extending to the meaning of facing or heading toward. When weeds block the path ahead, one must clear them away by hand; from this, 對 also came to mean matching, or pairing with.