剩菜 (shèng cài) — leftovers (of food) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

leftovers (of food)

Measure word · 个

Examples

剩菜，。
Jīn wǎn de shèng cài tài duō le, fàng bīng xiāng míng tiān zài chī.
There are too many leftovers tonight; put them in the fridge and eat them tomorrow.
剩菜，。
Tā bǎ shèng cài rè le rè, dāng wǔ cān chī le.
He reheated the leftovers and ate them for lunch.
剩菜。
Měi cì jù cān hòu dōu huì shèng xià bù shǎo shèng cài.
After every gathering, quite a bit of leftovers remain.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

剩shèngleftover

剩 says what is left, and 菜 names the food, so it means leftover food.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

乘

乘chéng剩shèng

Same sound today

剩 is made of 刀 (knife) as the meaning part and 乘 (chéng) as the sound part.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

艹采菜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

采cǎi菜cài

Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.

Appears in

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