垂涎三尺

Chinese

		to water at the mouth; to drool; to covet to water at the mouth; to drool; to covet; to hanker for; to crave for	three	a Chinese foot (M); one-third of a metre; a ruler a Chinese foot (M); one-third of a metre; a ruler; a note musical note on traditional Chinese scale
trad. (垂涎三尺)		垂涎	三	尺
simp. #(垂涎三尺)		垂涎	三	尺
Literally: “to drool for 3 feet”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): chuíxiánsānchǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄔㄨㄟˊ ㄒㄧㄢˊ ㄙㄢ ㄔˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): seoi⁴ jin⁴ saam¹ cek³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chuíxiánsānchǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄔㄨㄟˊ ㄒㄧㄢˊ ㄙㄢ ㄔˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: chuéisiánsanchǐh
    • Wade–Giles: chʻui²-hsien²-san¹-chʻih³
    • Yale: chwéi-syán-sān-chř
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chweishyansanchyy
    • Palladius: чуйсяньсаньчи (čujsjanʹsanʹči)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯³⁵ ɕi̯ɛn³⁵ sän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: seoi⁴ jin⁴ saam¹ cek³
    • Yale: sèuih yìhn sāam chek
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soey⁴ jin⁴ saam¹ tsek⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: sêu⁴ yin⁴ sam¹ cég³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɵy̯²¹ jiːn²¹ saːm⁵⁵ t͡sʰɛːk̚³/

Idiom

垂涎三尺

1. to drool (over); to yearn for (certain food or an item); to covet

Synonyms

• 饞涎欲滴／馋涎欲滴 (chánxiányùdī)