逼 (bī): to force; to compel; to pressure

Meanings

1 to force; to compel; to pressure
2 to press close to; to approach

Characters

逼

bī

to force; to compel; to press

Examples

别逼我！

Bié bī wǒ!

Don't force me!

是生活逼的。

Shì shēnghuó bī de.

Life forced me into it.

他被逼得没有办法了。

Tā bèi bī de méiyǒu bànfǎ le.

He was forced into a corner with no way out.

父母逼他学钢琴。

Fùmǔ bī tā xué gāngqín.

His parents forced him to learn piano.

Tips

usage

逼 is very common in spoken Chinese. 被逼的 means 'was forced/had no choice.' 逼真 (bīzhēn) means 'lifelike/realistic' - a different usage where 逼 means 'approaching (reality).'

Components

radical

辶 chuò

walk; movement

辶 is the walking radical (side-form of 辵), wrapping the bottom-left and always written last. It carries the original sense of 'pressing close, approaching' - to compel someone is to physically move in on them. Same radical in 进 advance, 追 chase, 迫 force.

phonetic

畐 fú

full vessel; brimming

Inner 畐 supplies the sound: fú drifted to bī through an Old Chinese stop-consonant alternation also seen in 福 fú (blessing) and 富 fù (rich). Originally a picture of a brimming wine jar - the 'full' sense is dormant here, leaving 畐 as a near-pure phonetic anchor.