Definition
吃水 is a separable verb (离合词) with several specialized meanings. Its most literal sense is 'to drink water', but it is less common than 喝水 and typically appears in contexts about water supply (e.g., a village's access to drinking water). In maritime use, it means 'to draw water' — the depth a ship's hull sits below the waterline (draft). For materials, it describes absorbency (how much water a fabric or sponge takes in). As a separable verb, you can insert 了, 过, or other elements between 吃 and 水: 吃了水, 吃过水.
v.o.
to drink water (often in the sense of having access to drinking water)(of a ship) to draw waterto have a draft(of materials) to absorb water
Examples
- 吃水，。Zhège cūnzi chī shuǐ hěn kùnnán, yào cóng hěn yuǎn de dìfang yùn shuǐ.This village has difficulty getting drinking water; they have to transport water from far away.
- 吃水，。Nà sōu dà chuán chī shuǐ shí mǐ, bù néng kāi jìn qiǎn shuǐ qū.That large ship draws ten meters of water and cannot enter shallow waters.
- 。Zhè zhǒng hǎimián chī le shuǐ yǐhòu huì biàn de hěn zhòng.This type of sponge becomes very heavy after absorbing water.
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