上桌 (shàng zhuō) — to sit down at the table (to eat); to serve dishes (to the table)

Definition

Two meanings: people sitting down to eat, OR dishes being brought to the table. Both involve the table as the transition point — from kitchen/dining area to the eating surface.

verb
to sit down at the table (to eat)to serve dishes (to the table)

Examples

  • ，上桌。
    Cài dōu zuò hǎo le, dà jiā kuài shàng zhuō ba.
    The dishes are all ready, everyone come sit at the table quickly.
  • 上桌。
    Zhè dào cài yí shàng zhuō jiù bèi qiǎng guāng le.
    As soon as this dish was served, it was grabbed up.
  • 上桌，。
    Kè rén hái méi shàng zhuō, bié jí zhe shàng cài.
    The guests haven't sat down yet, don't rush to serve the dishes.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

上shànggo to/put on
桌zhuōtable

上 (go to/put on) and 桌 (table) mean coming to the table or putting dishes on it.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

桌 has 卓 on top, giving the sound and a sense of high, and 木 below, wood; the bottom of 卓 has merged into 木.

Open 桌 →

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