催促 (cuī cù) — to urge (someone to do something) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

催促 means to keep pressing someone to act faster or sooner — it's pushy, about speed or timing. Stronger than 催 (a quick nudge) and more active than 督促 (supervising progress on a task).

verb

to urge (someone to do something)

Examples

催促。
Tā bù tíng dì cuī cù wǒ kuài diǎn chū fā.
He kept urging me to hurry up and leave.
催促。
Lǎo shī cuī cù xué shēng duō kàn shū.
The teacher urged the students to read more books.
催促。
Yī shēng cuī cù bìng rén àn shí chī yào.
The doctor urged the patient to take medicine on time.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

促cùhasten

催 'urge' and 促 'hasten' point in the same direction, together meaning 'to urge'.

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.

亻崔催

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

崔

崔cuī催cuī

Same sound today

催 combines 亻, the person part, with 崔, which gives the sound.

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

亻足促

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

足

足zú促cù

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

促 pairs 亻 (person, written 人 when complete) with 足, which helps show its sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Communication & Speech

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