吃素

Mandarin · pinyin chī sù

Meanings

  1. to be a vegetarian
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Characters in this entry

吃
chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
素
sù · white (silk); plain; vegetarian; formerly; normally
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · chi1 su4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

  1. (verb-object) to live on a vegetarian diet; to be a vegetarian
  2. (figurative) to be weak; to be powerless; to be yielding

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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