吃 (chī): to eat
吃 (chī) is a Chinese character meaning “to eat.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 乞 (phonetic). It ranks #475 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 吃 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- to eat
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 吃 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 吃
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 吃惊verb | chī jīng | to be startled | 4 |
| 好吃adjective | hǎo chī | tasty | 1 |
| 大吃一惊 | dà chī yī jīng | (idiom) astounded | 6 |
| 小吃noun | xiǎo chī | street food | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 吃饭 | chī fàn | to have a meal |
| 吃醋 | chī cù | to feel jealous (esp. because of a rival in love or affection) |
| 吃素 | chī sù | to be a vegetarian |
| 难吃 | nán chī | unpalatable |
| 吃力 | chī lì | to entail strenuous effort |
| 吃亏 | chī kuī | to suffer losses |
| 吃不消 | chī bu xiāo | to be unable to tolerate or endure |
| 吃药 | chī yào | to take medicine |
| 贪吃 | tān chī | gluttonous |
| 白吃 | bái chī | to eat without paying |
| 口吃 | kǒu chī | to stammer |
| 吃香 | chī xiāng | popular |
| 吃喝 | chī hē | to eat and drink |
| 吃苦头 | chī kǔ tou | to suffer |
| 吃苦 | chī kǔ | to bear hardships |
吃 appears in 100 compound words: 81 as the first character, 17 as the last, and 2 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 吃 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (22)
lit. to eat delicious food and drink hard liquor (idiom); fig. to live well
lit. to eat delicious food and drink hard liquor (idiom); fig. to live well
Showing 12 of 22 idioms containing 吃.
Example Sentences
中午我和同事一起去吃了火锅，味道很不错。
Zhōngwǔ wǒ hé tóngshì yìqǐ qù chī le huǒguō, wèidào hěn búcuò.
At noon, I went to eat hot pot with my colleagues, and the taste was quite good.
过年年菜吃不完!3招简单清冰箱 剩菜新吃法一次看
guò nián nián cài chī bù wán ! 3 zhāo jiǎn dān qīng bīng xiāng shèng cài xīn chī fǎ yī cì kàn
Can't finish the New Year's dishes! 3 simple ways to clear the refrigerator and see a new way to eat leftovers at once
OpenAI切入实体AI市场 鸿海有望通吃大单
O p e n A I qiē rù shí tǐ A I shì chǎng 鸿 hǎi yǒu wàng tōng chī dà dān
OpenAI cuts into the physical AI market Hon Hai is expected to take all the big orders
高速交警邀“义务巡逻员”共吃年夜饭 警民共守平安路
gāo sù jiāo jǐng yāo yì wù xún luó yuán gòng chī nián yè fàn jǐng mín gòng shǒu píng ān lù
Highway traffic police invited "volunteer patrollers" to eat New Year's Eve dinner, police and people to guard the safe road together
动物们吃上定制“年夜饭”
dòng wù men chī shǎng dìng zhì nián yè fàn
Animals have customized "New Year's Eve dinner"
上海人能把“马”吃出多少新花样?
shǎng hǎi rén néng bǎ mǎ chī chū duō shǎo xīn huā yàng ?
How many new ways can Shanghai locals come up with to enjoy horse meat?
我能吃这只橙子吗？
Wǒ néng chī zhè zhī chéngzi ma?
Can I eat this orange?
今晚出去吃怎么样？
Jīnwǎn chūqù chī zěnmeyàng?
How about going out to eat tonight?
你早餐吃了些什么？
Nǐ zǎocān chī le xiē shénme?
What did you eat for breakfast?
吃点点心你看好吗？
Chī diǎn diǎnxīn nǐ kàn hǎo ma?
Let's eat some dessert, alright?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 吃 (chī) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 吃 and 迄?
How many strokes does 吃 have?
What is the radical of 吃?
What are the components of 吃?
What are common words containing 吃?
What characters sound the same as 吃 (chī)?
Is 吃 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 吃 with real-time feedback
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