偷吃 (tōuchī): to eat on the sly

Meanings

1 to eat on the sly
2 to pilfer food
3 (figurative) to be unfaithful (cheat on one's partner)

Characters

偷

Examples

孩子偷吃了桌上的糖。

Háizi tōuchī le zhuō shàng de táng.

The child sneaked some candy off the table.

他被怀疑在外面偷吃。

Tā bèi huáiyí zài wàimiàn tōuchī.

He's suspected of cheating on his partner.

Tips

usage

The figurative sense — cheating on a partner — is extremely common in Chinese gossip and TV dramas. 偷吃 literally 'sneak-eat' implies tasting forbidden fruit; pair it with 出轨 (chūguǐ, 'to go off the rails / be unfaithful') to describe affairs.