吃 chī

1. chī verb to eat
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Food and Drink
   Notes: For example, 他不吃饭，也不睡觉 'He does not eat and he also does not sleep.' In literary Chinese 吃 may also be used for drink but it was not used in the sense of eating or drinking until after the Tang dynasty (CC-CEDICT '吃'; Guoyu '吃' v 1; Kroll 2015 '吃', p. 50; Unihan '吃'; Ye Shengtao, 1999, p. 4).
2. chī verb to suffer; to endure
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语
   Notes: (Guoyu '吃' v 6; Unihan '吃')
3. chī verb to inhale; ingest
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语
   Notes: (Guoyu '吃' v 2)
4. jí verb to stutter
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: (Guoyu '吃' jí 1; Kroll 2015 '吃' 1, p. 50)
5. chī verb to capture a chess piece
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语
   Notes: In a game of chess (Guoyu '吃' v 3)
6. chī verb to engulf
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语
   Notes: In the sense of 吞没 (Guoyu '吃' v 4)
7. chī verb to sink
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语
   Notes: (Guoyu '吃' v 5)
8. chī verb to receive
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语
   Notes: For example, 吃惊 To be startled (Guoyu '吃' v 7)
9. chī verb to expend
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语
   Notes: For example, 吃力 expend energy (Guoyu '吃' v 9)
10. jí onomatopoeia laughing sound
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: (Guoyu '吃' jí 2)

Contained in

• 看菜吃饭，量体裁衣(看菜吃飯，量體裁衣) eat depending on the dish, cut cloth according to the body; to fit the appetite to the dishes and the dress to the figure; to act according to actual circumstances
• 吃螺丝(吃螺絲) (of an actor, announcer etc) to stumble over words
• 吃牢饭(吃牢飯) to do prison time
• 吃皇粮(吃皇糧) to eat from government coffers; to serve as a government employee; to live off government money
• 吃得消 to be able to endure (exertion, fatigue etc); to be able to afford
• 吃不来(吃不來) to be unaccustomed to certain food; to not be keen on certain food
• 吃粮不管事(吃糧不管事) to eat without working; to take one's pay and not care about the rest
• 吃拿卡要 dinner invitations, grabbing, obstructing and demanding bribes; all kinds of abuse of power
• 吃奶之力 all one's strength
• 吃吃 sound of muffled laughter (chuckling, tittering etc); sound of stammering
• 兔子不吃窝边草(兔子不吃窩邊草) A rabbit doesn't eat the grass by its own burrow
• 吃空额(吃空額) to embezzle by adding to the payroll employees existing in name only
• 吃人血馒头(吃人血饅頭) to take advantage of others' misfortune
• 不干不净，吃了没病(不乾不淨，吃了沒病) a little dirt never killed anybody; a couple of germs won't do you any harm
• 吃人家的嘴软，拿人家的手短(吃人家的嘴軟，拿人家的手短) the mouth that has been fed by others is soft, the hand that has received doesn't reach
• 看菜吃饭(看菜吃飯) to eat depending on the dish; to act according to actual circumstances; to live within one's means
• 癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉(癩蛤蟆想吃天鵝肉) the toad wants to eat swan meat; to try to punch above one's weight
• 吃喝玩乐(吃喝玩樂) to eat, drink and be merry; to abandon oneself to a life of pleasure
• 吃请(吃請) to be a guest at a dinner party; to be wined and dined (as a bribe)
• 吃里爬外(吃裡爬外) to work against the interests of somebody one derives support from; to double-cross one's employer
• 口吃 to stammer; to stutter
• 哑巴吃黄莲(啞巴吃黃蓮) no choice but to suffer in silence
• 吃饱撑着(吃飽撐著) having nothing better to do
• 吃空饷(吃空餉) to embezzle by adding to the payroll employees existing in name only
• 吃鸭蛋(吃鴨蛋) (fig.) to score 0 (on a test, in competition etc)
• 吃不消 to be unable to tolerate or endure; to find something difficult to manage
• 吃馆子(吃館子) to eat out; to eat at a restaurant
• 吃布 to catch on cloth
• 大吃大喝 to eat and drink as much as one likes; to make a pig of oneself
• 吃错药(吃錯藥) to have taken the wrong medicine; (of one's behavior etc) different than usual; abnormal
• 贪吃者(貪吃者) glutton
• 吃人 exploitative; oppressive
• 吃软不吃硬(吃軟不吃硬) eats soft food, but refuses hard food; amenable to coaxing but not coercion
• 吃紧(吃緊) in short supply; dire; tense; critical; hard-pressed; important
• 吃喝拉撒睡 to eat, drink, shit, piss, and sleep; the ordinary daily routine
• 吃官司 to face legal action; to get sued
• 吃得开(吃得開) to be popular; to be getting on well; much in demand
• 小吃 snack; refreshments
• 令人吃惊(令人吃驚) to shock; to amaze
• 零吃 snack food
• 好汉不吃眼前亏(好漢不吃眼前虧) a wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him
• 省吃俭用(省吃儉用) to live frugally; to economize on food and clothing; to scrimp and save
• 坐吃享福 vegetative existence; to consume passively without doing anything useful
• 好吃 tasty; delicious ; to be fond of eating
• 吃青春饭(吃青春飯) to make the most of one's youthfulness in one's choice of employment (e.g. modeling)
• 自讨苦吃(自討苦吃) to ask for trouble; to make a rod for one's own back
• 吃不住 to be unable to bear or support
• 吃后悔药(吃後悔藥) (fig.) to regret (doing sth)
• 吃瓜群众(吃瓜群眾) peanut gallery (esp. in online forums)

Also contained in

狗改不了吃屎 、 吃豆人

Word is mentioned most frequently in

Truncated for common words

• 第二回 Chapter 62 Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 — count: 54
• 第二回 Chapter 41 Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 — count: 52
• 第二回 Chapter 75 Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 — count: 45
• 第二回 Chapter 8 Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 — count: 42
• 第二回 Chapter 35 Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 — count: 41
• 第二十四回 Chapter 24 Journey to the West 西遊記 — count: 40
• 第二回 Chapter 40 Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 — count: 36
• 第二回 Chapter 38 Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 — count: 36
• 第八十五回 Chapter 85 Journey to the West 西遊記 — count: 31
• 第二回 Chapter 63 Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 — count: 30

Collocations

• 吃酒 (吃酒) 于阿顏家吃酒 — Old Book of Tang 舊唐書, 卷十八下 本紀第十八下: 宣宗 Volume 18 Annals 18: Xuanzong — count: 16
• 吃剌 (吃剌) 授吃剌思八斡節兒為帝師 — History of Yuan 元史, 卷十六　本紀第十六: 世祖十三 Volume 16 Annals 16: Shizu 13 — count: 8
• 来吃 (來吃) 大哥來吃酒 — Water Margin 水滸傳, 第四十四回 Chapter 44 — count: 5
• 吃一 (吃一) 滿莊裏人都吃一驚 — Water Margin 水滸傳, 第七十三回 Chapter 73 — count: 4
• 性吃 (性吃) 廢帝性吃訥 — Book of Northern Qi 北齊書, 卷六　　補帝紀第六　孝昭帝 Volume 6 Annals 6: Emperor Xiaozhao — count: 3
• 为人吃 (為人吃) 為人吃 — Records of the Grand Historian 史記, 《五宗世家》 House of the Five Clans — count: 3
• 两个吃 (兩個吃) 與他兩個吃 — Water Margin 水滸傳, 第七十三回 Chapter 73 — count: 3
• 吃野草 (吃野草) 不吃野草遠我道 — Book of Northern Qi 北齊書, 卷三四　補列傳第二六 楊愔 燕子獻 宋欽道 鄭頤 Volume 34 Biographies 26: Yang Yin; Yan Zixian; Song Qindao; Zheng Yi — count: 3
• 真吃 (真吃) 奪僧輦真吃剌思等所受司徒 — History of Yuan 元史, 卷二十七　本紀第二十七: 英宗一 Volume 27 Annals 27: Yingzong 1 — count: 3
• 酒吃 (酒吃) 那漢一頭吃酒吃肉 — Water Margin 水滸傳, 第九十回 Chapter 90 — count: 2