pica

IPA/ˈpaɪkə/
KK[pˈaɪkə]IPA/ˈpaɪkə/

pica — 名詞

1. A medical condition in which someone has an uncontrollable urge to swallow items

1.名詞C2
釋義

異食癖

想吃非食物物質的臨床病症

A medical condition in which someone has an uncontrollable urge to swallow items with no nutritional value — such as dirt, chalk, paper, or hair — often linked to nutritional shortages, mental health conditions, or developmental disorders.

例句

The doctor diagnosed Tendai with pica after he kept eating handfuls of soil.

醫生診斷 Tendai 患有異食癖，因為他總是在吃泥土。

collocation: diagnose with pica

Stephanie's three-year-old son was treated for pica at the children's clinic.

Stephanie 三歲的兒子在兒童診所接受了異食癖治療。

collocation: treated for pica

常見搭配
  • diagnose with pica
  • treated for pica
  • pica in children
  • pica during pregnancy

用法筆記

A clinical diagnosis; not the same as ordinary chewing habits or temporary mouthing behaviour in toddlers, which are developmentally normal.

常見錯誤

My toddler eats sand at the park — I think he has pica.
My toddler eats sand at the park
I asked the doctor whether it might be pica.' — Mouthing non-food items is normal in young children; pica is a medical diagnosis requiring professional assessment.

2. In printing, a measurement equal to about one-sixth of an inch; twelve points ma

2.名詞C2
釋義

派卡

印刷用的長度單位，等於12點

In printing, a measurement equal to about one-sixth of an inch; twelve points make one pica, which was the standard typewriter type size.

例句

Xiu set the left margin of her document to exactly two picas.

Xiu 把文件的左邊距設為正好兩個派卡。

countable: two picas

The old printing manual showed Owen how wide a pica really is.

那本舊印刷手冊讓 Owen 看到一個派卡實際有多寬。

常見搭配
  • pica ruler
  • pica pole
  • pica measurement
  • pica width

用法筆記

Distinguish from point — a pica contains 12 points, so 12-point type and one-pica type describe the same physical size.

常見錯誤

Set the font to one pica.
Set the font size to 12 points, which equals one pica.
Pica measures physical length on a printed page, not digital font size directly.