施威 (shī wēi) — to exert one's power or authority (often in ang…

Definition

施威 (shī wēi) is a literary verb meaning to throw one's weight around, usually in anger or to intimidate. Common pattern: 对/向 + person + 施威.

verb

to exert one's power or authority (often in anger)to show force

施威。
Tā jīng cháng xiàng yuán gōng shī wēi.
He often shows his power to the employees.
。
Lǎo bǎn duì dà jiā shī le yí cì wēi.
The boss showed his power to everyone once.
，。
Jīng lǐ zài huì yì shàng shī guò wēi, dà jiā dōu pà tā.
The manager has shown his authority at meetings, and everyone is afraid of him.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

施 “exert” and 威 “power” combine to mean exert one's power.

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

㫃㫃㫃

Sound part声符shēngfú

也

也yě施shī

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

施 pairs 㫃, the part connected to its meaning, with 也, the part giving its sound.

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

戌女威

威 is made by combining 戌 and 女.