乞食 (qǐ shí) — to beg for food | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A literary/formal verb meaning 'to beg for food,' mostly found in historical, literary, or journalistic texts. The everyday spoken form is 要饭.

verb

to beg for food

Examples

乞食。
Tā qióng dé zhǐ néng qǐ shí.
He was so poor he could only beg for food.
。
Nà ge qǐ gài zài jiē shàng qǐ guò jǐ cì shí.
That beggar has begged for food on the street several times.
乞食。
Gǔ dài hěn duō nàn mín kào qǐ shí huó mìng.
In ancient times, many refugees survived by begging for food.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

乞 expresses begging, and 食 is the food asked for, giving the sense of begging for food.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

亼亼jímouth
皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

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.

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