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威逼 (wēi bī) — to coerce, to intimidate

Definition

A formal verb for pressuring someone by threats — stronger than 强迫 (which can mean any kind of forcing) and emphasizes fear or menace. Typically appears in the pattern 威逼 + 人 + 做某事, and is common in written/news contexts.

verb
to coerceto intimidate

Examples

  • 威逼。
    Tā wēi bī wǒ qiān le nà fèn hé tong.
    He coerced me into signing that contract.
  • 威逼。
    Dǎi tú yòng dāo wēi bī tā jiāo chū qián bāo.
    The thug intimidated him with a knife into handing over his wallet.
  • 威逼，。
    Zài wēi bī zhī xià, tā zhǐ hǎo shuō chū le zhēn xiàng.
    Under coercion, he had to tell the truth.

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wēithreaten
逼bīforce

威 and 逼 both carry the sense of forcing or threatening, so together they mean to coerce.

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.

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 →
Appears in
Conflict & Agreement

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