📖 Meaning
To eat heartily and enjoy food with great gusto, taking large bites and chewing vigorously. It describes someone feasting joyfully on delicious food without restraint.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom traces back to the Book of Changes (周易), one of the oldest Chinese classics, compiled during the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–771 BCE). In the hexagram section called 'Yi' (颐, meaning nourishment), the original text reads '观我朵颐，凶' — 'observing myself chewing, inauspicious.' Here 朵颐 literally means moving the cheeks while chewing. Over the centuries the phrase shed its ominous warning and evolved into 大块朵颐, denoting eating heartily and with delight.
💡 Example Usage
他看着满桌好菜，忍不住大块朵颐起来。
Seeing the table laden with good dishes, he couldn't help but feast on them heartily.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 大块朵颐
- Pinyin: dà kuài duǒ yí
- Literal Translation: large, piece, move, cheeks
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4