食指大动 — “Index finger greatly twitches”
食指大动 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to have one's index finger twitch, indicating an appetite for delicious food; to be eager to eat; to have a keen appetite”. Literally, “index finger greatly twitches”.
食指大动 Pronunciation and Pinyin
食指大动 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 食指大动
Origin and Story of 食指大动
During the Spring and Autumn period, people from the State of Chu sent several large turtles to Duke Ling of Zheng.
When the Grandee Zikong heard the news, he told Prince Guisheng that whenever his index finger twitched, it was a sign that delicious food was about to be served.
Prince Guisheng and Zikong went together to the turtle banquet.
Duke Ling of Zheng, however, disliked Zikong intensely, so he instructed his attendants to deliberately not serve any turtle to Zikong.
In response, Zikong dramatically threw down his plate, dipped his index finger into the soup, and tasted it.
Idioms Related to 食指大动
More idioms starting with 食
- shí食bù不xià下yàn咽too distraught to eat
- shí食bù不èr二wèi味eat simply with only one dish
- shí食bù不chōng充kǒu口unable to get enough food
- shí食bù不chōng充cháng肠not enough food to satisfy hunger
- shí食bù不chōng充jī饥barely enough food to survive
- shí食bù不jiān兼wèi味eat only one dish
- shí食bù不jiān兼ròu肉eat simply, limiting meat consumption
- shí食bù不yàn厌jīng精，，kuài脍bù不yàn厌xì细eat well-prepared refined food
- shí食bù不niàn念bǎo饱eat with moderation
- shí食bù不xiá暇bǎo饱too busy to eat properly
- shí食bù不guǒ果fù腹not have enough food to eat
- shí食bù不qiú求gān甘not seek delicious food
Recommended tools
Chinese Text Image Generator
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Picture Worksheets
Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets
Open the tool →
Bingo Cards
Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Stroke Order Animator
Turn a Chinese character or sentence into a GIF or MP4
Open the tool →Questions about 食指大动
What does 食指大动 mean?
食指大动 (shí zhǐ dà dòng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to have one's index finger twitch, indicating an appetite for delicious food; to be eager to eat; to have a keen appetite”.
How do you pronounce 食指大动?
食指大动 is pronounced shí zhǐ dà dòng in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 食指大动 literally mean?
Literally, 食指大动 means “index finger greatly twitches”. It is used to mean “to have one's index finger twitch, indicating an appetite for delicious food; to be eager to eat; to have a keen appetite”.
Where does 食指大动 come from?
食指大动 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 食指大动?
原指有美味可吃的预兆，后形容看到有好吃的东西而贪婪的样子。