吞食 (tūn shí) — to swallow, to devour

Definition

Dramatic 'to swallow / devour', usually of an animal taking in prey or food whole. Stronger and more vivid than the everyday 吃, with no casual eating sense.

verb
to swallowto devour
Easily confused

Examples

  • 吞食。
    Nà tiáo shé tūn shí le yì zhī lǎo shǔ.
    That snake swallowed a mouse.
  • 吞食。
    Lǎo hǔ tūn shí le liè wù hòu lí kāi le.
    The tiger devoured its prey and left.
  • 。
    Zhè tiáo dà yú tūn le sān cì shí cái chī bǎo.
    This big fish swallowed food three times before it was full.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

吞tūnswallow
食shíeat

吞 'swallow' and 食 'eat' combine to express devouring.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 吞 →

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.

Open 食 →

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