‘甜筒’ literally means ‘sweet tube’ — 甜 (tián) means ‘sweet’, and 筒 (tǒng) means ‘tube’, ‘cylinder’, or ‘hollow container’. Together, they refer specifically to the crisp, cone-shaped wafer used to hold soft-serve or scooped ice cream. Unlike generic terms for desserts, 甜筒 emphasizes the edible, rolled-waffle structure itself — not just the ice cream inside. It’s a common snack or treat in China, often sold at parks, malls, and street vendors.

The word is informal but neutral in register, widely understood across age groups and regions. While ‘冰淇淋’ (bīng qí lín) means ‘ice cream’ generally, 甜筒 specifies the *cone* format — you can have ice cream in a cup (杯装冰淇淋), but only in a cone is it called a 甜筒. It’s rarely used metaphorically and almost always refers to the food item itself.