压榨

yā zhà

HSK 2.0 Level 6 HSK 3.0 Level 7 Verb Uncommon

Definitions

2 items

to squeeze

Means 'to squeeze, to extrude'; focuses on physical pressing or crowding.

to exploit

Figurative meaning 'to exploit' (economically), overlapping with 压榨 in its extended sense of exploitation.

1 item

to press

Both mean 'to press', but 压榨 specifically implies squeezing to extract something, while 压 is more general.

压榨 is commonly used with 油 (oil), 汁 (juice), or metaphorically with 人民 (people) to mean exploitation.

Don't confuse 压榨 (yā zhà) with 压制 (yā zhì) — the latter means 'to suppress', not to squeeze for extraction.

1 shown

工人们把橄榄压榨成油。

The workers press olives into oil.

AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

to press

to press