外卖 meaning in English
(of a restaurant) to provide a takeout or home delivery meal; takeout (business)
Meaning of 外卖
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (of a restaurant) to provide a takeout or home delivery meal
- takeout (business)
- takeout (meal)
How to use 外卖
外卖 can be a noun for the takeout meal itself or a verb-like word for ordering or delivering it. People often say 点外卖 (diǎn wàimài) for ordering delivery, usually through a phone app. Example: 今天太累了，我们点外卖吧。(Jīntiān tài lèi le, wǒmen diǎn wàimài ba.) I'm too tired today, let's order takeout.
外 (wài) means outside and 卖 (mài) means to sell, so 外卖 is food sold to be eaten outside the restaurant. Think of the kitchen selling your meal out the door to your home.
Common mistake: Learners often write 外买 with 买 (mǎi, to buy) instead of 卖 (mài, to sell). The correct word uses 卖, which has the extra part on top, and both syllables are fourth tone: wàimài.
外卖 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
外 wài · outside · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
卖 mài · to sell · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 外卖.
| 外国 | wàiguó | foreign country |
| 国外 | guó wài | abroad; external (affairs) |
| 外边 | wàibian | outside; outer surface |
| 外语 | wàiyǔ | foreign language |
| 以外 | yǐwài | apart from; other than |
| 外地 | wàidì | parts of the country other than where one is |
| 外面 | wàimiàn | outside (also pr. [wai4 mian5] for this sense); surface |
| 另外 | lìngwài | additional; in addition |
| 意外 | yìwài | unexpected; accident |
| 外交 | wàijiāo | diplomacy; diplomatic |
| 外文 | wàiwén | foreign language (written) |
| 外套 | wàitào | outer garment; jacket; coat |
Questions about 外卖
What does 外卖 mean?
外卖 (wàimài) means "(of a restaurant) to provide a takeout or home delivery meal; takeout (business)" and is used as a noun and verb.
How do you write 外卖?
外卖 is made of 2 characters: 外 (5 strokes), 卖 (8 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 外卖 an HSK word?
Yes. 外卖 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 外卖 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 外卖 is written 外賣.
What verb do you use with 外卖?
The most common verb is 点 (diǎn), as in 点外卖, meaning to order takeout. You can also say 叫外卖 (jiào wàimài), and 送外卖 (sòng wàimài) means to deliver takeout.
What do you call a food delivery rider in Chinese?
A delivery rider is often called 外卖员 (wàimàiyuán) or, more casually, 外卖小哥 (wàimài xiǎogē). Both are very common in everyday speech.