避 (bì) · to avoid; to shun

Meanings

1 to avoid; to shun
2 to take shelter; to flee

Characters

避

bì

to avoid; to take shelter

Contains the motion radical 辶, indicating the action of moving away to avoid something.

Examples

HSK 3

下雨了，我们找个地方避一避吧。

Xiàyǔ le, wǒmen zhǎo gè dìfang bì yī bì ba.

It's raining - let's find a place to take shelter.

HSK 3

他总是避着我。

Tā zǒngshì bì zhe wǒ.

He is always avoiding me.

HSK 5

这个话题很难避开。

Zhège huàtí hěn nán bìkāi.

This topic is hard to avoid.

Tips

usage

避 appears in many compounds: 避免 (to avoid), 避开 (to dodge), 躲避 (to hide from), 避难 (to take refuge), 避暑 (to escape the heat).

grammar

避 can be reduplicated as 避一避 to soften the tone: 让我避一避 (let me get out of the way for a bit).

Components

radical

辶 chuò

to walk; motion (variant of 辵)

Motion radical wrapping the bottom-left - the abbreviated form of 辵. To 避 is to physically move away from something - dodge, evade, get out of the way. Same radical anchors 避 with 逃 flee, 退 retreat, 远 distance, 进 advance - the whole avoid-and-approach motion family.

phonetic

辟 bì

to open up; ruler (here phonetic)

Inner component 辟 supplies an exact phonetic match: bì → bì, no drift. 辟 itself originally pictured a king pronouncing punishment (尸 over 口 over 辛). Faint semantic resonance: opening a path, clearing the way - a command to step aside, mirroring 避's 'evade, give way'. Same phonetic gives 璧 (jade disc), 壁 (wall), 臂 (arm).