B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

We read there
וַיִּפְצְרוּ בָאִישׁ בְּלוֹט מְאֹד
NIV: "They kept bringing pressure on Lot"
KJV: "And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot"
וַיִּפְצְרוּ = בא-היא-פצר-הוּא is from the root פצר, a member of the root family
בדר, בזר, בסר, בצר, בשר, בתר
פדר, פזר, פטר, פצר, פשר, פתר
and hence it seems to me that the act פצר is rather 'break down, dissolve, crumble, erode, unravel', here Lot's resolve and determination.
In 1Sam. 13:21 we encounter פְּצִירָה for sharpening or scraping by a file
הָיְתָה הַפְּצִירָה פִים לַמַּחֲרֵשֹׁת וְלָאֵתִים וְלִשְׁלֹשׁ קִלְּשׁוֹן וּלְהַקַּרְדֻּמִּים
NIV: "The price was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes"
KJV: Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes"

Isaac Fried, Boston University

In spoken Hebrew today הפשרה is 'relaxation, melting, defrosting, thawing', as in הפשרת שלגים, 'snow melting'. התפשרוּת is 'compromise, accommodation, settlement'.
On the other hand, התבצרוּת is 'entrenchment, resistance'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

The קַרְדּוֹם = קרד-הוּא-ם of 1Sam. 13:21 is apparently from the root קרד, a member of the Hebrew root family
גרד, גרז, גרט, גרס, גרש
הרס
חרד, חרז, חרט, חרס, חרץ, חרש, חרת
כרז, כרס, כרץ, כרש, כרת
קרד, קרס, קרץ, קרש
and hence a קַרְדּוֹם is a כַּרְתּוֹם, a cutting-off tool, a chopping tool, a felling tool.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

The relative פתר to פזר, פצר, פשר, בתר is clustered in Gen. chapters 40-41, in the sense of 'interpret, solve, figure out, unravel, untangle, reveal, clarify, crack, dissect', the hidden message buried in puzzling dreams.

Isaac Fried, Boston University