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逼供 (bī gòng) — to extort a confession

Definition

A legal/legal-procedural term: to force or coerce a suspect into confessing, usually by pressure, threats, or torture. The example sentence shows it used as a content word (e.g., 逼供手段 'methods of forced confession').

verb
to extort a confession

Examples

  • 逼供。
    Jǐng fāng bù néng shǐ yòng bī gòng shǒu duàn.
    The police cannot use methods of forcing a confession.
  • ，。
    Tā men bī le jǐ cì gòng, fàn rén zhōng yú chéng rèn le.
    They extorted a confession several times, and the prisoner finally admitted it.
  • 逼供。
    Fǎ lǜ míng què jìn zhǐ bī gòng.
    The law explicitly forbids extorting confessions.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

逼bīforce
供gòngconfession

逼 means force or extort and 供 means confession, so the word denotes forcing someone to confess.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
畐
畐fú逼bī
Same sound today

逼 pairs 辶, which carries the meaning, with 畐, which gives the sound.

Open 逼 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
共
共gòng供gòng
Same sound today

供 is made of 亻, a person, and 共, which gives the sound gòng.

Open 供 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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