迫降 (pò xiáng) — to force someone to surrender; to compel an ene… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A formal/strategic verb meaning to force an enemy or opponent to surrender by military or political pressure (e.g. cutting supplies, encircling). Unrelated to the aviation sense of an emergency landing.

verb

to force someone to surrenderto compel an enemy to yield

Examples

，。
Dí jūn bèi bāo wéi hòu, zhǐ huī guān xià lìng pò jiàng.
After the enemy was surrounded, the commander ordered them to be forced to surrender.
。
Tā men tōng guò qiē duàn bǔ jǐ xiàn lái pò jiàng shǒu jūn.
They forced the defenders to surrender by cutting off their supply lines.
。
Lì shǐ shàng céng yǒu duō cì chéng gōng pò jiàng de àn lì.
History has many cases of successfully forcing a surrender.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

降jiàngsurrender

迫 'force' plus 降 'surrender' gives the sense of compelling someone to yield.

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.

辶白迫

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuò

Sound part声符shēngfú

白

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

The form 迫 pairs the walking radical 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 白, 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.

阝夅降

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as阜fùhill, wall

Sound part声符shēngfú

夅

夅jiàng降xiáng

Same sound today

降 pairs 阝 (a hill or wall, written in full as 阜) with 夅, a sound part meaning 'to descend'; together they picture descending a hill.

Appears in

Air Travel Military & Defense

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