The compound word 驱使 (qūshǐ) is formed through the combination of two semantically related characters: 驱, which originally meant "to drive (horses, a vehicle)" and carries a sense of propelling or urging forward, and 使, which means "to use", "to send", or "to cause". Together, they create a verb that means "to order about", "to drive someone to do something", or "to prompt and compel". The formation follows a typical Chinese lexical pattern where two verbs with complementary meanings (here, both involving causing action) are joined to express a more specific and often stronger or more figurative concept, in this case, the act of compelling or spurring someone into action, often under pressure or influence, much like driving a beast of burden.