零食 (líng shí) — snacks; between-meal nibbles | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Snacks eaten between meals at home or on the go (chips, candy, biscuits). 小吃 is street food or small dishes you buy and eat out; 点心 is more refined pastries or dim sum.

noun

snacksbetween-meal nibbles

Measure word · 种

Examples

零食。
Mā ma bú ràng wǒ chī tài duō líng shí.
Mom doesn't let me eat too many snacks.
零食。
Wǒ men qù chāo shì mǎi yì xiē líng shí ba.
Let's go to the supermarket and buy some snacks.
，零食，。
Zhōu mò hé péng you yì qǐ kàn diàn yǐng, chī líng shí, hěn kāi xīn.
On weekends, watching movies and eating snacks with friends is very enjoyable.

Origin

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.

零 suggests odd or between-meal, and 食 means food, giving snacks.

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.

雨令零

Meaning part形符xíngfú

雨雨yǔrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

令

令lìng零líng

Same sound today

In 零, the 雨 part depicts thick raindrops falling from the sky; the 令 part 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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Food (General)

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