DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

外賣

简外卖 · 繁外賣

Mandarin · pinyin wài mài

(of a restaurant) to provide a takeout or home delivery meal
takeout (business)
takeout (meal)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

外: wài · out, outside, external; foreign
賣: Look up this written character
卖: mài · sell; betray; show off

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–4 · wai4 mai4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

外賣 · find source passages ↗ · 外卖 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ngoi6 maai6

Cantonese word readings for 外賣. 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.

noun

(Mainland China, Hong Kong) carryout; food delivery; food to go; takeout

verb

(Mainland China, Hong Kong) to provide food to go or a food delivery service

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack