Word.ws English Dictionary

dim sum

UK/ˈdɪm.sʌm/US/ˈdɪmˈsʌm/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

dim sum noun: a Cantonese-style meal traditionally eaten in the morning or early afternoon, comprising tea and food typically placed in small steamer baskets or on small plates, and often served from carts that move around from table to table in a restaurant.

Noun

dim sum (uncountable)

  1. A Cantonese-style meal traditionally eaten in the morning or early afternoon, comprising tea and food typically placed in small steamer baskets or on small plates, and often served from carts that move around from table to table in a restaurant.
  2. The food served at a dim sum meal, typically including dumplings, seafood, and desserts.
    • King Chef (2F Main Mall, 0932 323 1871) serves healthy food and authentic Cantonese cuisine in a fine dining setup. For Father's Day, treat the whole family to its dim sum platters! It has a roasted platter which includes soyed chicken, roast duck, barbecued pork asado, fried five-spice roll, and...2022 June 18, “Go on a Binondo food trip this Father's Day at Lucky Chinatown”, in Manila Bulletin, Manila: Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Jun...
    Synonyms:
    yum cha

dim sum meaning in Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese

dim sum in Tagalog

dim sum
dimsum

dim sum in Thai

dim sum
ติ่มซำ dtìm-sam

dim sum in Vietnamese

dim sum
điểm sấm

Synonyms of dim sum

Forms of dim sum

alternative formdimsum

Origin of dim sum

Borrowed from Cantonese 點心／点心 (dim² sam¹), literally “to touch the heart gently; to skim the heart; to refresh the heart; to quicken the heart; heart-warming; to kindle the fire of the heart”.

Words formed from dim sum

Questions about dim sum

What does dim sum mean?
Dim sum means a Cantonese-style meal traditionally eaten in the morning or early afternoon, comprising tea and food typically placed in small steamer baskets or on small plates, and often served from carts that move around from table to table in a restaurant.
What is dim sum in Tagalog?
Dim sum in Tagalog is dimsum. See Dim sum meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is dim sum?
Dim sum is a noun.
How do you pronounce dim sum?
Dim sum is pronounced /ˈdɪmˈsʌm/ (US).

Words near dim sum in the dictionary

  1. dim bulbs
  2. dim mak
  3. dim out
  4. dim sim
  5. dim sims
  6. dim sum
  7. dim sum bond
  8. dim sum bonds
  9. dim-bulb
  10. dim-headed
  11. dim-lit

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dim sum (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Justinrleung-dim sum.wav.

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