Chinese word

憋

Pronunciation

Pinyinbiē

Meaning

  • verbhold back

Example

孩子们常常憋着不哭。hái zi men cháng cháng biē zhe bù kū

Children often hold back their tears.

Illustration for 憋 (hold back)

More examples

她把委屈憋在心里很久了。tā bǎ wěi qū biē zài xīn lǐ hěn jiǔ le

She kept her grievances to herself for a long time.

Core concept

Pressure builds inside because a natural response is being held in instead of released.

Common phrases

  • 憋住眼泪biē zhù yǎn lèi

    hold back tears

  • 憋在心里biē zài xīn lǐ

    keep it to oneself

  • 憋得慌biē de huāng

    feel stifled

Similar words

忍住rěn zhù: Stop a response that is about to come out, such as words, tears, or laughter.
克制kè zhì: Deliberately restrain an emotion or desire through calm self-control.
压抑yā yì: Push an emotion or desire inward and store it rather than expressing it.
控制kòng zhì: Manage an emotion or action through conscious adjustment and restraint.

Definition in Chinese

用力压抑内心或身体想要发出的声音、表情或动作，使其暂时不外露或不发生。yòng lì yā yì nèi xīn huò shēn tǐ xiǎng yào fā chū de shēng yīn biǎo qíng huò dòng zuò shǐ qí zàn shí bú wài lù huò bù fā shēng

Word origin

憋 (biē, "hold back") is a phono-semantic character in which 心 (xīn, "heart") marks an inward condition while 敝 (bì, "worn out") mainly indicates the sound.

Usage tips

  • In conversation, the word commonly describes a response that is difficult to keep in, which helps distinguish it from simply choosing not to speak or act.

Other meanings

  • endureverb
  • suppressverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 憋屈biē qūfrustratedadjective
  • 憋闷biē mèndepressedadjective

Word lists with this word