吃 is also the simplified spelling of 喫.
吃
Meanings
- to eat; to consume
- to eat at (a cafeteria etc)
- to eradicate; to destroy
- to absorb
- to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)
Characters in this entry
- 吃
- chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
1 · chi1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
Sentences in context
Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.
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.
Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
gat1 · hat1 · hek3 · jaak3
Cantonese word readings for 吃. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character · Etymology 1
- to eat; to consume
- to absorb (a liquid)
- to swallow up; to absorb; to annex
- to live on
- to suffer; to endure; to bear
- to exhaust; to be a strain
- to comprehend; to grasp (the subtext)
- to drink
- (board games) to capture
- (mahjong) to chow
- to accept
- (early modern Wu) because
character · Etymology 2
- to stammer; to stutter; to falter
character · Etymology 3
- only used in 吃吃 (qīqī)
character · Etymology 4
- (Hokkien) alternative form of 食
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack