おやつ・お八つoyatsu[2]nakadaka (mid-high)

1. nounbetween-meal snack
   三郎さぶろうはテーブルの上うえに出だされたおやつをガッと取とった。↗

   Saburo snatched up all the snacks that were sitting on the table.
2. nounmid-afternoon (around 3 o'clock) snack; afternoon refreshment; afternoon tea
   おやつにプリンを食たべた。↗

   I had some custard pudding for an afternoon snack.

• Synonym間食かんしょくNeutralA Sino-Japanese word for eating between meals; it names the act of snacking, as in 「間食を控える」, while おやつ is the snack itself.
• SynonymスナックNeutralA loanword for snack foods such as potato chips — salty snacks especially — and also for a snack bar. Unlike おやつ, it leans salty.
• Related茶の子ちゃのこNeutralA snack served with tea, but dated and rarely heard today. Also in 「お茶の子さいさい」, meaning something easily done.

Use 「おやつ」 for between-meal or afternoon snacks, as in 「三時のおやつ」. For the act of snacking say 「間食」; for salty snack foods like chips, 「スナック」. 「茶の子」 is dated.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 間食かんしょくとして食たべられる菓子かし、果物くだもの、おにぎり、餅もちなどのこと。特とくに午後ごご三さん時じごろ食たべるものをさす。