馋涎欲滴

饞涎欲滴
chánxiányùdī
idiom #62,415

Meanings

  1. 1 mouth-watering with greed
  2. 2 to drool with desire
  3. 3 to hunger after something covetously

Examples

Zhuō shàng de kǎoyā ràng tā chánxiányùdī.
The roast duck on the table made his mouth water.
Kàndào duìshǒu gōngsī de shìchǎng fèn'é, tā chánxiányùdī.
Seeing the rival company's market share, he was drooling with envy.

Tips

history
Built from earlier images of drool: ·》 "垂涎" and ·苏轼》 "". The four-character form crystallized later as 馋涎欲滴 — "the drool is about to drip".
usage
Works literally for tasty food and figuratively for any object of greedy desire (money, market share, a job offer). Stronger and more vivid than plain 口水.

Stroke Order

chán
xián