餂 (tiǎn) - To lick & to taste

餂Tone 3

tiǎn ｜ 14 strokes ｜ radical:

檀婷

餂 · tiǎn

To lick;

to taste;

to try food;

to flatter or coax with sweet words.

To lickto tasteto try food

Usage highlights

Lick honeyTaste foodCoax with sweet wordsLick the woundLick cleanFlatter and coax

Synonyms

  • 舔— to lick (more common modern equivalent)
  • 尝— to taste, to try food
  • 谄媚— to flatter, to fawn

Antonyms

  • 吐— to spit out
  • 斥责— to scold, to reprimand

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The cat licked its paw (猫餂了餂爪子).
  • He tasted the soup to check the flavor (他餂了一口汤).
  • She coaxed the secret out of him with sweet talk (她用甜言蜜语餂出了他的秘密).

Collocations

  • Lick honey(餂蜜)
  • Taste food(餂食)
  • Coax with sweet words(甜言餂语)
  • Lick the wound(餂伤口)
  • Lick clean(餂干净)
  • Flatter and coax(谄媚餂哄)

Idioms

  • Lick sores and suck pus (餂痈舐痔) — to flatter shamelessly
  • Lick honey from a knife (餂刀头蜜) — to seek small gains at great risk

Cultural background

FAQ
  • The character 餂 appears in classical texts describing both physical licking/tasting and metaphorical flattery.
  • In the idiom '餂痈舐痔', it depicts extreme sycophancy, licking someone's sores and hemorrhoids.
  • The character is relatively rare in modern usage, mostly preserved in classical idioms and literary contexts.

FAQ