开挖 (kāi wā) — excavate

Definition

verb
excavate

Examples

  • 开挖。
    Gōng rén men zhèng zài kāi wā dì jī.
    The workers are excavating the foundation.
  • 开挖。
    Kǎo gǔ xué jiā xiǎo xīn dì kāi wā gǔ mù.
    The archaeologists carefully excavate the ancient tomb.
  • 开挖。
    Tā men yòng jī qì kāi wā le yì tiáo gōu.
    They used a machine to excavate a ditch.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

开kāiopen
挖wādig

开 and 挖 both point to digging or opening earth, giving the sense of excavating.

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 挖 →

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