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吃白飯

简吃白饭 · 繁吃白飯

Mandarin · pinyin chī bái fàn

to eat plain rice
(fig.) to eat and not pay for it
to sponge off others
to freeload

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Characters in this entry

吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
白: bái · white; pure, unblemished; bright
飯: fàn · cooked rice; food; meal
饭: fàn · cooked rice; food, meal

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4 · chi1 bai2 fan4

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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.

吃白飯 · find source passages ↗ · 吃白饭 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

(set phrase, derogatory) to live off the labour of other people; to gain unduly; to freeload

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

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