peck at
peck at — 慣用語
1. to eat only a very small amount of a meal because you are not hungry, do not fin
吃幾口
因食慾差或心情不好而只吃少量
to eat only a very small amount of a meal because you are not hungry, do not find the food interesting, or feel too upset to have a proper appetite.
Luca just sat at the table and pecked at his dinner without saying a word.
Luca 只是坐在桌前吃了幾口晚餐，一句話也沒說。
peck at + food; emotional cause (upset)
After hearing the bad news, Yuki pecked at her lunch and pushed the plate away.
Yuki 聽到壞消息後，只吃了幾口午餐就把盤子推開了。
The dish was too salty, so Emily pecked at her rice and left the rest.
菜太鹹了，Emily 只吃了幾口飯就放下了筷子。
Sivan barely ate and only pecked at the salad before leaving the table.
Sivan 幾乎沒吃，只隨便吃了幾口沙拉就離開餐桌了。
Bilal was recovering from a stomach bug, so he only pecked at his soup.
Bilal 因腸胃不適正在恢復中，所以只喝了幾口湯。
The children were too excited for cake to eat dinner; they pecked at their plates.
孩子們太想吃蛋糕了，晚餐只隨便吃了幾口。
Nila felt full from the snacks and could only peck at the main course.
Nila 吃完零食後很飽，主菜只能勉強吃幾口。
During the long bus ride, Yasmin pecked at the crackers in her bag.
在漫長的巴士車程中，Yasmin 只吃了一些包包裡的餅乾。
文法句型
peck at + food/meal
用法筆記
This sense is labeled as both an idiom and a phrasal verb in different dictionaries — all referring to the same reluctant-eating behaviour. The cause can be emotional (sadness, stress, disinterest in the food) or physiological (low appetite, illness, feeling full). The object must be a specific meal or food item, never an abstract concept.
常見錯誤
peck at — 動詞
- peck atpresent simple I / you / we / they
- pecks at3rd person singular
- pecking at-ing form
- pecked atpast simple
1. to take many small, quick bites from something, the way a bird uses its beak to
小口啄食
像鳥或用喙小口啄咬
to take many small, quick bites from something, the way a bird uses its beak to pick up food or hit a surface.
Aaron watched the sparrows peck at the breadcrumbs on the park bench.
Aaron 看著麻雀在公園長椅上啄食麵包屑。
literal animal pecking action
A small fish pecked at Anjali's toes in the shallow water.
一條小魚在淺水裡啄 Anjali 的腳趾。
The parrot pecked at the metal bars of its cage all morning.
鸚鵡整個早上都在啄鐵籠的欄杆。
Sari watched a pigeon peck at a dropped biscuit on the pavement.
Sari 看著一隻鴿子啄食掉在人行道上的一塊餅乾。
- nip
implies a sharper, quicker bite that may pinch
文法句型
peck at + object (literal physical action)
用法筆記
This is the most literal sense — the subject is typically an animal (bird, fish) or occasionally a person playfully taking tiny bites of something.