瘦肉 (shòu ròu) — lean meat | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Meat with little fat — the everyday word for 'lean meat', paired against 肥肉 (fatty meat). Comes from animals like pork, beef, or chicken.

noun

lean meat

Measure word · 块

瘦肉，。
Wǒ mā ma xǐ huan mǎi shòu ròu, yīn wèi zhī fáng shǎo.
My mom likes to buy lean meat because it has less fat.
瘦肉，。
Zuò zhè dào cài zuì hǎo yòng shòu ròu, bú yào yòng féi ròu.
For this dish, it's best to use lean meat, not fatty meat.
瘦肉。
Chāo shì lǐ de shòu ròu bǐ pǔ tōng ròu guì yì xiē.
The lean meat in the supermarket is a bit more expensive than regular meat.

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.

瘦 describes the 肉 as lacking fat.

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.

疒叟瘦

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nè

Sound part声符shēngfú

叟

叟sǒu瘦shòu

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

瘦 is built from 疒 and 叟: 疒 gives the meaning, and 叟 gives the sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original shape of 肉 showed ribs of an animal’s torso, or simply a slice of meat.