小吃

xiǎo chī

HSK 2.0 Level 5 HSK 3.0 Level 4 Noun Uncommon

Definitions

1 item

(regular) meal

小吃 is a snack or light meal, while 正餐 is a proper, full meal.

2 items

between-meal nibbles

小吃 usually refers to small prepared food items often sold at stalls or as light meals, while 零食 refers to packaged snacks like chips or candy.

light refreshments

点心 can refer to pastries or dim sum, often eaten as a light meal or with tea, overlapping with some types of 小吃.

Don't confuse 小吃 with 零食; 小吃 are often freshly prepared and served as a light meal, while 零食 are packaged snacks.

2 shown

我喜欢吃各种小吃。

I like to eat all kinds of snacks.

我们今晚去夜市吃小吃吧。

Let's go to the night market to eat snacks tonight.

AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

snack bar

to eat

small