挤压
jǐ yā · HSK 7
to squeeze
🧴 挤 squeeze + 压 press — both hands working: crowd it in, then bear down on it
挤 jǐ is the squeeze of a packed crowd; 压 yā is downward pressure or weight. Together they mean to compress or extrude — like forcing toothpaste from a tube by pressing along it.
挤 — hand radical 扌 + 齐 (qí, even)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 gives the meaning of pressing or pushing with the hand, while 齐 supplies the sound. The simplified form replaces the traditional 擠, whose right side 齊 depicted ears of grain growing evenly. The core sense is to squeeze, press together, or crowd.
压 — 厂 (cliff) + 土 (earth) below
压 is the simplified form of 壓. The original character combined 厭 (phonetic, suggesting 'yā') with 土 (earth) to mean pressing or weighing down on the ground. The modern simplified form keeps 厂 (a cliff or overhang) above 土, visually evoking earth being pressed under a heavy mass.