自拔

zìbá

verb #16,454

Meanings

1 to free oneself; to extricate oneself from a difficult situation

Characters

to pull out; to extract

Examples

HSK 6

她陷入了悲伤中无法自拔。

Tā xiànrù le bēishāng zhōng wúfǎ zìbá.

She sank into grief and couldn't free herself from it.

HSK 7-9

他沉迷于赌博，不能自拔。

Tā chénmí yú dǔbó, bùnéng zìbá.

He was addicted to gambling and couldn't pull himself out.

Tips

grammar

自拔 almost always appears in negative patterns: 不能自拔, 无法自拔, 难以自拔. You rarely see it used in a positive sense (i.e. 'he successfully freed himself').

Stroke Order

自 zì

拔 bá