消食 (xiāo shí) — to help with digestion; to promote digestion | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

消食 (xiāo shí) means 'to aid digestion' — typically used for food, drink, or activities that help the stomach work after eating, like 消食茶 or 饭后散步消食.

verb

to help with digestionto promote digestion

Examples

消食。
Zhè zhǒng chá yǒu zhù yú xiāo shí.
This kind of tea helps with digestion.
。
Tā chī le fàn yǐ hòu xiāo le shí.
After eating, he aided his digestion.
消食。
Fàn hòu sàn bù zuì néng xiāo shí.
Taking a walk after meals is the best way to aid digestion.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

消xiāodissolve

消食 means to dissolve 食, helping digestion.

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.

氵肖消

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

肖

肖xiào消xiāo

Same sound today

消 has 氵 (water) beside 肖. The water part connects to putting out or making something vanish, and 肖 gives the sound.

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.

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.