嗷嗷待哺

áo'áodàibǔ

idiom #62,062

Meanings

1 crying piteously for food
2 hungry mouths waiting to be fed; on the brink of starvation

Characters

to feed (a baby/young)

Examples

巢里的几只小鸟嗷嗷待哺，等着妈妈回来。

Cháo lǐ de jǐ zhī xiǎo niǎo áo'áodàibǔ, děng zhe māma huílai.

The chicks in the nest cried piteously for food, waiting for their mother to return.

战乱年代，许多孩子嗷嗷待哺，无家可归。

Zhànluàn niándài, xǔduō háizi áo'áodàibǔ, wújiākěguī.

In times of war, many children were starving and homeless.

Tips

history

嗷嗷 mimics a baby bird's pitiful cry — the image comes from 《诗经·小雅·鸿雁》: 鸿雁于飞，哀鸣嗷嗷, 'wild geese in flight, mournfully crying.' Han historian Xun Yue (荀悦) later applied it to starving people.

memory

嗷嗷 (áo'áo) is onomatopoeia — picture the open beaks of baby birds in a nest. 哺 (bǔ) means 'to feed,' as in 哺乳 (breastfeed).

Stroke Order

嗷 áo

待 dài

哺 bǔ