食 (shí): to eat, food, animal feed
食 (shí) is a Chinese character meaning “to eat.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 人 (structural) and 良 (structural). It ranks #671 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 食 a dish of food 良 with a lid on top 人. Its radical form 饣 (eat) appears in many related characters such as 饭 (fàn, meal, rice), 饿 (è, hungry), 馆 (guǎn, restaurant, hall).
Definitions
- to eat
- food
- animal feed
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA dish of food 良 with a lid on top 人
Decomposition: ⿱人良 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 食 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 食
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 食物noun | shí wù | food | 4 |
| 食品noun | shí pǐn | foodstuff | 4 |
| 饮食noun | yǐn shí | eating and drinking | 5 |
| 美食noun | měi shí | culinary delicacy | 4 |
| 零食noun | líng shí | snack | 4 |
| 粮食noun | liáng shi | foodstuff | 5 |
| 食堂noun | shí táng | dining hall | 4 |
| 食用verb | shí yòng | to eat | 5 |
| 食欲noun | shí yù | appetite | 6 |
| 衣食住行 | yī shí zhù xíng | lit. clothing, food, housing and transportation (idiom) | 6 |
| 主食noun | zhǔ shí | staple food | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 进食 | jìn shí | to eat one's meal |
| 素食 | sù shí | vegetarian food |
| 节食 | jié shí | to save food |
| 食谱 | shí pǔ | cookbook |
| 食言 | shí yán | to break one's promise |
| 熟食 | shú shí | cooked food |
| 甜食 | tián shí | dessert |
| 食指 | shí zhǐ | index finger |
| 伙食 | huǒ shí | food |
| 食道 | shí dào | esophagus |
| 肉食 | ròu shí | carnivorous |
| 捕食 | bǔ shí | to prey on |
| 绝食 | jué shí | to go on a hunger strike |
| 觅食 | mì shí | to forage |
| 蚕食 | cán shí | (lit. and fig.) to nibble away at |
食 appears in 100 compound words: 36 as the first character, 63 as the last, and 1 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 食 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (31)
to eat and drink too much; to over-indulge in food and drink; to binge (on food and beverage)
to study or work hard, neglecting one's meals; be so immersed in work as to forget one's meals
to be completely wrapped up in one's work and skip one's sleep and meals
to be not choosy when one is hungry or when matters are urgent; beggars can't be choosers
to study or work hard, neglecting one's meals; be so immersed in work as to forget one's meals
to be not choosy when one is hungry or when matters are urgent; beggars can't be choosers
Showing 12 of 31 idioms containing 食.
Example Sentences
食品安全关系到每个人的健康。
shí pǐn ān quán guān xì dào měi gě rén de jiàn kāng .
Food safety is crucial to everyone's health.
无糖食品有哪些东西?代糖饼干、无糖豆浆、黑巧算...
wú táng shí pǐn yǒu nǎ xiē dōng xī ? dài táng bǐng gān , wú táng dòu jiāng , hēi qiǎo suàn . . .
What are the sugar-free foods? Sugar substitute biscuits, sugar-free soy milk, black calculations...
“超级皖”美食争霸赛总决赛收官 豆腐发源地淮南夺冠
chāo jí 皖 měi shí zhēng bà sài zǒng jué sài shōu guān dòu fǔ fā yuán dì huái nán duó guàn
The finals of the "Super Anhui" Food Championship ended with Huainan, the birthplace of tofu, winning the championship
通膨上升、减重药热销 美食品业降价吸引顾客回流
tōng péng shàng shēng , jiǎn chóng yào rè xiāo měi shí pǐn yè jiàng jià xī yǐn gù kè huí liú
Inflation rises, weight loss drugs are hot, and the price reduction of the US food industry attracts customers to return
食八宝饭误吞枣核 62岁翁肚大如孕妇
shí bā bǎo fàn wù tūn zǎo hé 6 2 suì wēng dù dà rú yùn fù
Eating eight treasure rice and mistakenly swallowing jujube kernels, the 62-year-old man's belly is as big as a pregnant woman
预防干眼症、黄斑部病变:食疗与四招护眼操
yù fáng gān yǎn zhèng , huáng bān bù bìng biàn : shí liáo yǔ sì zhāo hù yǎn cāo
Prevent dry eye syndrome and macular degeneration: diet therapy and four-way eye care exercises
你怎么在太空里找到食物？
Nǐ zěnme zài tàikōng lǐ zhǎodào shíwù?
How do you find food in outer space?
我要改变我的饮食吗？
Wǒ yào gǎibiàn wǒ de yǐnshí ma?
Do I have to change my diet?
您曾经食物中毒过吗？
Nín céngjīng shíwùzhòngdú guo ma?
Have you ever had food poisoning?
有足够的食物给大家吗？
Yǒu zúgòu de shíwù gěi dàjiā ma?
Is there enough food for everyone?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What are common words containing 食?
What characters sound the same as 食 (shí)?
Is 食 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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