迫

pò / pǎi
verb #14,931

Meanings

  1. 1 to force
  2. 2 to compel
  3. 3 to press in on
  4. 4 urgent; pressing

Examples

HSK 4
Tā bèi pò fàngqì le jìhuà.
He was forced to give up the plan.
HSK 6
Shìqing hěn pòqiè, bùnéng tuōyán.
The matter is urgent and brooks no delay.

Tips

mistakes
Almost everywhere 迫 is read pò: 强迫 (to force), 迫切 (urgent), 压迫 (to oppress). The single common exception is 迫击炮 (mortar), where mainland speakers say pǎi.

Components

radical
辶 chuò
walk; movement (radical form)
辶 is the bottom-left walking radical, the side form of 辵, drawn as a foot on a winding path. It is the indexing radical and supplies the meaning: 迫 is to press in on someone by coming up close. Same motion family: 逼 to force, 追 to pursue.
phonetic
白 bái
white
白 at the top-right supplies the sound, bái drifting to pò through the regular b/p alternation in this phonetic family. The white meaning does not carry over. The same phonetic gives 拍 to clap, 怕 to fear, 泊 to moor.

Stroke Order

迫 pò