胁 meaning and stroke order
To threaten, to coerce; ribs, flank
How to write 胁, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 胁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- flank (the side of one's torso)
- to coerce
- to threaten
- variant of 脅|胁[xie2]
How 胁 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. To control 办 another's body ⺼.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 胁
The flesh radical ⺼ on the left points to the body, and 办 (bàn, to manage, to handle) on the right suggests controlling someone. Picture grabbing a person by the ribs to force them to do what you want: that is 胁, to threaten or coerce.
In modern Chinese 胁 almost always appears inside compounds such as 威胁 (wēixié) and 胁迫 (xiépò), not as a standalone verb. The body sense of flank or ribs shows up mostly in set phrases and medical or literary language. Example: 他受到了威胁。(Tā shòudào le wēixié.) He was threatened.
Common mistake: Learners often swap the right side 办 for 力 or 协's components and confuse 胁 with 协 (xié, to assist), which sounds identical but has the radical 十 instead of ⺼. Remember that 协 helps, while 胁 threatens the body.
Common words with 胁
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
胁 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 胁
How many strokes are in 胁?
胁 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 胁 mean?
胁 (xié) means to threaten, to coerce; ribs, flank. A common word with it is 威胁 (wēixié), meaning "to threaten; to menace".
How do you pronounce 胁?
胁 is pronounced xié, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 胁?
The radical of 胁 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 胁 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 胁?
The traditional form of 胁 is 脅 and 脇. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 胁 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 胁 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 胁 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 威胁 a noun or a verb?
It can be both. 他威胁我 (tā wēixié wǒ) means he threatens me, and 这是一个威胁 (zhè shì yí gè wēixié) means this is a threat.
What does 两肋 or 胁 mean in body vocabulary?
胁 refers to the sides of the torso over the ribs, the flank. You may see it in Chinese medicine terms like 胁痛 (xiétòng), pain in the side of the ribs.