大吃一惊

dà chī yī jīng

to get a big surprise

Character by character

大dà
big

吃chī
eat

一yī
one

惊jīng
fright

听到这个消息，我大吃一惊。

I was stunned when I heard the news.

Tone: neutral.

Everyday; also 让人大吃一惊, where 吃 means 'to suffer'.

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