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dim sum

dim sum

12 3.5
A meal of small Chinese dishes served with tea
  • noun
  • /dɪm sʌm/
translation icon : dim sum
  • After our morning meeting, we decided to have dim sum at a local restaurant.
  • dim sum restaurant
  • dim sum lunch
  • dim sum cart

But that's everything from Lunasia Dim Sum House and now it's time for the best and the least best.

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Examples

  • Locals like to go there to shop for cheap trinkets, bags of tea, and amazing dim sum!

    Blog text (16)
  • For brunch, we enjoyed a variety of dim sum accompanied by fragrant tea.

  • Can we get two orders of dim sum, please?

  • Are you ready for the dim sum bar?

  • This is my first dim sum in Asia in literally years.

  • Do you guys have any dim sum or dumplings?

  • We bonded over dim sum and spatial reasoning.

  • And no wonder, as the city provides countless options, from street food to dim sum to gourmet feasts.

    Blog text (27)
  • Finally, Super Great Wall Buffet's dim sum trays offer some of the better steamed dumplings available.

    Blog text (21)
  • Lin Heung Tea House has been around since 1928 and is the granddaddy of Hong Kong's dim sum joints.

    Blog text (9)

Surface Forms

dim sum singular
dim sums plural

Morphology

dim + sum

“Dim sum” is a lexicalized borrowing from Cantonese (點心) meaning a style of small Chinese dishes; the English words “dim” and “sum” (e.g., not bright, total) do not compose to produce this food-related meaning. Because the expression is culturally specific and not derivable from its apparent English constituents, a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Dim sum comes from the Cantonese words dim meaning 'touch' and sum meaning 'heart'. The name described small, pleasing dishes that 'touch the heart', so today dim sum means a style of many small Chinese dishes usually served with tea.