觅食 (mì shí) — (of animals) to forage, to search for food

Definition

An animal-behavior verb meaning 'to search for / gather food', used for wildlife and insects rather than humans eating.

verb

(of animals) to forageto search for food

觅食。
Niǎo zài shù lín lǐ mì shí.
The birds are foraging in the woods.
。
Zhè zhī lǎo hǔ yǐ jīng liǎng tiān méi mì dào shí le.
This tiger hasn't found food for two days.
觅食。
Dōng tiān hěn duō dòng wù dōu xū yào chū qù mì shí.
In winter, many animals need to go out to forage.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

觅 (seek) and 食 (food) combine to mean search for food.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 覓; 觅 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 覓 combines 爪 (hand) and 見 (to see); the simplified 觅 is a later abbreviation.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

Appears in