饥一顿饱一顿

饥一顿饱一顿

Literally means:

starve for one meal while full for another

Actually means:

cannot eat formally at every meal

饥 in Chinese means going hungry.

This phrase means that something one starves ang has harely anything to eat. The focus of this phrase is the first half, ie., have nothing to eat. It means that one cannot ensure three meals because he is very poor or leads an irregular life.

饥，饥饿。

饥一顿饱一顿，指有时挨饿，吃不上饭。侧重在表示吃不上饭。多用来说明因贫穷或生活没有规律不能保证一天三顿都吃上饭。