DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

沒吃沒穿

简没吃没穿 · 繁沒吃沒穿

Mandarin · pinyin méi chī méi chuān

to be without food or clothing (idiom)
to be very poor

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

沒: méi · not, have not, none; to drown, sink
吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
穿: chuān · penetrate, pierce, drill; wear
没: méi · not, have not, none; drown, sink

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–1–2–1 · mei2 chi1 mei2 chuan1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character 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.

沒吃沒穿 · find source passages ↗ · 没吃没穿 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

to be without food or clothing; to be very poor

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

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