‘吃饱’ (chī bǎo) is a compound verb meaning ‘to eat until full’ or ‘to have eaten one’s fill’. It combines 吃 (chī, ‘to eat’) and 饱 (bǎo, ‘full’ or ‘satiated’), where the second character functions as a result complement — indicating the successful completion of the action with the desired outcome. Unlike simply saying ‘I ate’, 吃饱 emphasizes satisfaction and physical fullness, often implying that no more food is needed.

This phrase is commonly used in everyday conversation about meals, health, and personal habits — for example, when parents remind children to eat enough, or when someone declines seconds by saying ‘我吃饱了’ (‘I’m full’). It carries a neutral-to-positive tone and is appropriate in both casual and semi-formal contexts. While it can describe humans, it’s occasionally used humorously or anthropomorphically for animals (e.g., ‘小狗也吃饱了’), but its core usage remains human-centered daily life.