食不果腹 (shí) — to be starving, to have insufficient food (idiom)
Definition
Literally 'food does not fill the belly' — a formal, written chengyu for severe hunger, used in literary or historical contexts about famine, war, or poverty. Often paired with 衣不蔽体.
idiom
to be starvingto have insufficient food (idiom)
Examples
- ，食不果腹，。Dāng shí xǔ duō bǎi xìng yī bú bì tǐ, shí, shēng huó shí fēn jiān nán.At that time, many common people were barely clothed and starving, living a very hard life.
- ，食不果腹，。Zhàn luàn nián dài, rén mín shí, mín bù liáo shēng.In the years of war, the people were starving and life was unbearable.
- ，，食不果腹。Zhè piàn tǔ dì lián nián gān hàn, zhuāng jia jué shōu, cūn mín shí.This land suffered years of drought, crops failed completely, and the villagers were left starving.
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