Meaning of 逼
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to force (sb to do sth)
- to compel
- to press for
- to extort
- to press on towards
- to press up to
- to close in on
- euphemistic variant of 屄[bi1]
- variant of 逼[bi1]
- to compel
- to pressure
How to use 逼
逼 means to force someone to do something, often against their will, and it also means to close in on a place or target. It usually takes a person as the object, followed by what they are forced to do: 他妈妈逼他学钢琴。(Tā māma bī tā xué gāngqín.) His mother forces him to learn piano.
逼 combines the walking radical 辶 with 畐 (fú) on the right. Picture someone walking right up to you, step by step, until you are pushed into a corner with no room left.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 逼 with 福 (fú, good fortune) or 富 (fù, rich), because all three share the right part 畐. Only 逼 has the walking radical 辶, and it is read bī in the first tone.
逼 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
逼 bī · to force · 12 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 逼.
Questions about 逼
What does 逼 mean?
逼 (bī) means "to force (sb to do sth); to compel" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 逼?
逼 is made of 1 character: 逼 (12 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 逼 an HSK word?
Yes. 逼 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 逼 a rude word?
The everyday meaning 'to force' is completely normal and polite. However, 逼 is also used as a euphemistic stand-in for a vulgar word, so it appears in some crude slang. In standard phrases like 逼迫 or 逼近 there is no problem.
Why does 逼真 mean lifelike if 逼 means to force?
Here 逼 keeps its sense of pressing close to something. 逼真 (bīzhēn) means coming so close to the real thing that it looks true, as in 这幅画很逼真 (zhè fú huà hěn bīzhēn), this painting is very lifelike.