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威胁 (wēi xié) — to threaten, to menace

Definition

威胁 is 'to threaten' in a serious, coercive sense — pressuring someone with real consequences. Stronger and more deliberate than 吓 ('to scare'); 恐吓 shares the meaning but emphasizes intimidation, often via fear or violence.

verb
to threatento menace

Examples

  • 威胁。
    Tā wēi xié shuō yào cí zhí.
    He threatened to quit.
  • 威胁。
    Hóng shuǐ wēi xié zhe zhěng gè cūn zhuāng de ān quán.
    The flood threatened the safety of the whole village.
  • 威胁。
    Bú yào yòng bào lì wēi xié bié rén.
    Don't threaten others with violence.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

威wēiintimidate
胁xiécoerce

威 means intimidate and 胁 means coerce, so together they mean to threaten.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

威 is made by combining 戌 and 女.

Open 威 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 脅; 胁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròu
Sound part声符shēngfú
劦
劦xié脅xié
Same sound today

The traditional form 脅 combines 肉, flesh, with 劦 for the sound; the simplified 胁 is a later shorthand.

Open 胁 →
Appears in
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