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

HSK 3

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.

HSK 3

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