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細嚼慢嚥

简细嚼慢咽 · 繁細嚼慢嚥

Mandarin · pinyin xì jiáo màn yàn

to eat slowly (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

細: xì · fine, tiny; slender, thin
嚼: jué · prattle, be glib
慢: màn · slow(ly), leisurely, sluggish
嚥: Look up this written character
细: xì · fine, tiny; slender, thin
咽: yàn · throat; pharynx

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–4–4 · xi4 jiao2 man4 yan4

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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.

細嚼慢嚥 · find source passages ↗ · 细嚼慢咽 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sai3 zoek3 maan6 jin3

Cantonese word readings for 細嚼慢嚥. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to chew carefully and swallow slowly

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

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