狼吞虎咽

狼吞虎嚥

lángtūn-hǔyàn

idiom #20,901

Meanings

1 to wolf down food
2 to devour ravenously
3 to gobble up greedily

Characters

to swallow whole

to gulp down; to swallow

Examples

他饿了一天，回家后狼吞虎咽地吃了两碗饭。

Tā è le yī tiān, huíjiā hòu lángtūnhǔyàn de chī le liǎng wǎn fàn.

He had been hungry all day and wolfed down two bowls of rice when he got home.

别狼吞虎咽，慢慢吃！

Bié lángtūnhǔyàn, mànmàn chī!

Don't wolf it down — eat slowly!

Tips

memory

Picture a wolf (狼) swallowing (吞) whole and a tiger (虎) gulping (咽) — two apex predators devouring prey without pausing to chew. The vivid animal imagery makes this idiom unforgettable and captures frenzied, ravenous eating.

Stroke Order

狼 láng

吞 tūn

虎 hǔ

咽 yàn