How common it is
威胁 appears often in everyday Chinese, so it is worth practicing early and reviewing often.
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Pronunciation focus
Say wēixié slowly first, then repeat it in a short phrase. Listen for the tone shape.
Usage note
威胁的意思是告诉别人如果不做某事，就会有不好的结果。
Wēixié de yìsi shì gàosu biérén rúguǒ bù zuò mǒushì, jiù huì yǒu bù hǎo de jiéguǒ.
Threaten means to tell someone that if they don't do something, there will be a bad result.
Context note
在食物话题中，威胁可以指食物变质或有害健康。
Zài shíwù huàtí zhōng, wēixié kěyǐ zhǐ shíwù biànzhì huò yǒuhài jiànkāng.
In the food topic, threaten can refer to food spoiling or being harmful to health.
5 examples
过期的食物可能威胁健康。
guò qī de shí wù kě néng wēi xié jiàn kāng。
Expired food may threaten health.
不要威胁别人，要友好相处。
bú yào wēi xié bié rén， yào yǒu hǎo xiāng chǔ。
Don't threaten others, be friendly.
暴风雨威胁了我们的野餐。
bào fēng yǔ wēi xié le wǒ men de yě cān。
The storm threatened our picnic.
细菌威胁食物的安全。
xì jūn wēi xié shí wù de ān quán。
Bacteria threaten food safety.
他威胁说要把蛋糕藏起来。
tā wēi xié shuō yào bǎ dàn gāo cáng qǐ lái。
He threatened to hide the cake.
5 mini stories
小明发现冰箱里的牛奶过期了。过期的牛奶威胁他的健康。
xiǎo míng fā xiàn bīng xiāng lǐ de niú nǎi guò qī le。 guò qī de niú nǎi wēi xié tā de jiàn kāng。
Xiao Ming found the milk in the fridge expired. Expired milk threatens his health.
小红说如果我不分享饼干，她就不和我玩。她的威胁让我很难过。
xiǎo hóng shuō rú guǒ wǒ bù fēn xiǎng bǐng gān， tā jiù bù hé wǒ wán。 tā de wēi xié ràng wǒ hěn nán guò。
Xiao Hong said if I don't share cookies, she won't play with me. Her threat made me sad.
妈妈警告说吃太多糖会威胁牙齿。所以我每天只吃一颗糖。
mā mā jǐng gào shuō chī tài duō táng huì wēi xié yá chǐ。 suǒ yǐ wǒ měi tiān zhī chī yì kē táng。
Mom warned that eating too much sugar threatens teeth. So I only eat one candy a day.
厨房里的火威胁到整个房子。消防员很快扑灭了火。
chú fáng lǐ de huǒ wēi xié dào zhěng gè fáng zi。 xiāo fáng yuán hěn kuài pū miè le huǒ。
The fire in the kitchen threatened the whole house. Firefighters quickly put out the fire.
老师说考试作弊会威胁学习。我们要诚实学习。
lǎo shī shuō kǎo shì zuò bì huì wēi xié xué xí。 wǒ men yào chéng shí xué xí。
The teacher said cheating on exams threatens learning. We should study honestly.