压榨 yāzhà to press
to press; to squeeze; to extract juice, oil etc by squeezing
How to remember 压榨: 压 press + 榨 to press for juice = to press.
Characters
How it is used
- Literally 'to press/squeeze out (juice, oil)', but overwhelmingly figurative: to exploit ruthlessly - 压榨工人 (yāzhà gōngrén) to exploit workers, 压榨剩余价值 to extract surplus value.
- Strong negative charge; the image of squeezing someone dry for profit. Harsher than 剥削 (bōxuē, to exploit).