Meaning
推 is a versatile verb that fundamentally means 'to push' in the physical sense. It extends metaphorically to mean推 promoting ideas or products, postponing events, or recommending people. The character combines the 'hand' radical (扌) with 隹 (bird), originally depicting the action of pushing a bird away with one's hand.
Usage
推 is very common in everyday speech for both physical pushing (doors, carts) and abstract concepts. It appears in many compound words like 推荐 (recommend), 推迟 (postpone), and 推销 (promote/sell). When used alone, context determines whether it means physical pushing or one of its extended meanings. It's neutral in register and appropriate for all contexts.
Examples
- 01请推门进来。.Please push the door and come in.
- 02我们需要推迟会议到下周。.We need to postpone the meeting to next week.
Common collocations
- 推门to push a door open
- 推车to push a cart
- 推广to promote, to popularize
- 推动to push forward, to promote
Antonyms
Origin
The character combines 扌(hand radical) with 隹 (bird), originally depicting pushing a bird away with the hand, which extended to the general meaning of pushing or moving something forward.