Chinese word

开动

Pronunciation

Pinyinkāi dòng

Meaning

  • verbstart eating

Example

大家准备好，开动吧！dà jiā zhǔn bèi hǎo kāi dòng ba

Get ready, everyone. Let's start eating!

Illustration for 开动 (start eating)

More examples

他一看见菜就开动了。tā yí kàn jiàn cài jiù kāi dòng le

As soon as he saw the dishes, he started eating.

Core concept

Puts something into action, especially the first movement of taking food at a shared meal.

Common phrases

  • 拿起筷子开动ná qǐ kuài zi kāi dòng

    pick up chopsticks and start eating

  • 一端上桌就开动yì duān shàng zhuō jiù kāi dòng

    start eating as soon as the food is served

Similar words

吃chī: Eat food by putting it in the mouth and chewing or swallowing it.
吃饭chī fàn: Eat a meal with rice, dishes, or other prepared food.
就餐jiù cān: Have a meal at a dining table.

Definition in Chinese

用来表示在餐桌上正式开始进食的动作或口令，通常指夹起或舀起食物并开始吃。yòng lái biǎo shì zài cān zhuō shàng zhèng shì kāi shǐ jìn shí de dòng zuò huò kǒu lìng tōng cháng zhǐ jiā qǐ huò yǎo qǐ shí wù bìng kāi shǐ chī

Word origin

开动 (kāidòng, "start moving") combines 开 (kāi, "open or start") with 动 (dòng, "move"), so it describes setting something in motion and extends naturally to beginning a meal.

Usage tips

  • At a meal, 开动吧 (kāidòng ba, "let's start eating") works as a shared signal from one person to the whole group, rather than as a command aimed at one person's movement.

Other meanings

  • beginverb
  • start upverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word