Chinese word

扑

Pronunciation

Pinyinpū

Meaning

  • verbpounce

Example

猫突然扑向老鼠。māo tū rán pū xiàng láo shǔ

The cat suddenly pounced on the mouse.

Illustration for 扑 (pounce)

More examples

狗见到陌生人就要扑上来。gǒu jiàn dào mò shēng rén jiù yào pū shàng lái

When the dog sees a stranger, it is ready to pounce on them.

Core concept

Forceful forward movement aimed at making contact with or seizing a target.

Common phrases

  • 扑向pū xiàng

    pounce on

  • 扑上来pū shàng lái

    pounce on

  • 扑倒pū dào

    pounce on and knock down

Similar words

冲chōng: Move suddenly and quickly forward with great force.
攻击gōng jī: Act against a target with force or other means in an attempt to cause harm.
袭击xí jī: Come toward a target unexpectedly and try to cause harm.

Definition in Chinese

猛然地向前冲上去，常用身体或手抓住、撞击或抢夺对方。měng rán dì xiàng qián chōng shàng qù cháng yòng shēn tǐ huò shǒu zhuā zhù zhuàng jī huò qiǎng duó duì fāng

Word origin

The simplified character 扑 (pū, "pounce") comes from 撲 (pū, "strike"), whose older sense gives the word its image of energetic movement onto another target.

Usage tips

  • This verb commonly combines with a direction or result, as in 扑向 (pūxiàng, "pounce toward") and 扑倒 (pūdǎo, "pounce and knock down"), so the following word often completes the event.

Other meanings

  • attackverb
  • chargeverb

Opposites

  • 躲开duǒ kāidodgeverb
  • 撤退chè tuìretreatverb

Related words

  • 扑击pū jīattackverb
  • 扑打pū dǎswat awayverb

Word lists with this word