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开刀 (kāi dāo) — to have or perform surgery; to make someone the first target of attack or punishment (in 拿...开刀)

Definition

Means literally 'open the knife': to perform (or undergo) surgery. In 拿…开刀 it means 'make someone the first target' — start by singling them out for punishment or cuts.

verb
to have or perform surgeryto make someone the first target of attack or punishment (in 拿...开刀)

Examples

  • 开刀。
    Tā xià zhōu yào kāi dāo zuò xīn zàng shǒu shù.
    He is going to have heart surgery next week.
  • ，。
    Yī shēng gěi tā kāi le yí cì dāo, xiàn zài hǎo duō le.
    The doctor performed an operation on him, and now he's much better.
  • 开刀，。
    Gōng sī xiān ná xīn lái de yuán gōng kāi dāo, dà jiā dōu hěn jǐn zhāng.
    The company first made the new employee the target, and everyone was nervous.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

开kāicut
刀dāoknife

To 开 with a 刀 is to cut open, hence surgery.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 刀 comes from a simple picture of a knife.

Open 刀 →
Appears in
Medicine & Treatment

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