吃 meaning and stroke order
To eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy
How to write 吃, stroke by stroke
6 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Meaning of 吃
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to eat; to consume
- to eat at (a cafeteria etc)
- to eradicate; to destroy
- to absorb
- to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)
- variant of 吃[chi1]
How 吃 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 乞 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 吃
吃 is a mouth 口 on the left next to 乞 (qǐ), which hints at the sound. Picture an open mouth 口 waiting for food, and you have "to eat."
吃 is the everyday verb for eating, and it also covers "suffering" something, as in 吃亏 (chīkuī, to suffer a loss) or 吃惊 (chījīng, to be startled). Example: 我们去吃饭吧。(Wǒmen qù chīfàn ba.) Let's go eat.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 气 (qì) or 乙 instead of 乞, which has a short stroke on top and a hooked bend below. Also keep the tone high and flat as chī, not chí or chǐ.
Common words with 吃
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 吃饭 | chīfàn | to have a meal; to eat | HSK 1 |
| 好吃 | hǎochī | tasty; delicious | HSK 1 |
| 吃惊 | chījīng | to be startled; to be shocked | HSK 4 |
| 小吃 | xiǎochī | street food; snack | HSK 4 |
| 吃力 | chīlì | to entail strenuous effort; to toil at a task | HSK 5 |
| 大吃一惊 | dàchī-yījīng | (idiom) astounded; flabbergasted; taken aback | HSK 7-9 |
| 吃亏 | chīkuī | to suffer losses; to come to grief | HSK 7-9 |
| 口吃 | kǒuchī | to stammer; to stutter; Taiwan pr. [kou3ji2] | HSK 7-9 |
| 吃苦 | chīkǔ | to bear hardships | HSK 7-9 |
| 吃不上 | chī bushàng | unable to get anything to eat; to miss a meal | HSK 7-9 |
| 吃喝玩乐 | chī-hē-wán-lè | (lit.) to eat, drink, play and be merry (idiom); (fig.) to abandon oneself to a life of pl | HSK 7-9 |
| 吃掉 | chīdiào | to eat up; to consume | |
| 吃药 | chīyào | to take medicine | |
| 吃醋 | chīcù | to feel jealous (esp. because of a rival in love or affection) |
吃 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 吃
How many strokes are in 吃?
吃 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 吃 mean?
吃 (chī) means to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy. A common word with it is 吃饭 (chīfàn), meaning "to have a meal; to eat".
How do you pronounce 吃?
吃 is pronounced chī, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 吃?
The radical of 吃 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 吃 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 吃?
The traditional form of 吃 is 喫. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 吃 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 吃 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 吃 is part of the HSK 1 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 1.
Can 吃 mean to drink?
Sometimes. In some regional speech and older usage, 吃 is used with liquids, like 吃药 (chī yào, take medicine) even for liquid medicine. For ordinary drinks like water or tea, standard Mandarin uses 喝 (hē).
Why does 口吃 mean to stutter?
Here 吃 keeps an old sense of speech getting stuck, so 口吃 (kǒuchī) means to stammer. It has nothing to do with eating. Note that in Taiwan it is often pronounced kǒují.