柴米油盐 / 柴米油鹽

chái​mǐ​yóu​yán

daily necessities

literally firewood, rice, oil, and salt; refers to the essential items needed for daily life or the mundane realities of running a household

柴 (literal) → 柴 · chái · firewood 米 (literal) → 米 · mǐ · rice 油 (literal) → 油 · yóu · oil 盐 (literal) → 盐/鹽 · yán · table salt

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM