开膛 (kāi táng) — to disembowel; to gut (an animal)

Definition

开膛 means to slit open the belly and remove the insides of an animal — a specific butchering step, usually before further cleaning or cooking.

verb

to disembowelto gut (an animal)

Examples

开膛。
Tā zhèng zài gěi nà tiáo yú kāi táng.
He is gutting that fish.
，。
Shā zhū de shí hou, xiān kāi le táng cái néng bǎ nèi zàng ná chū lái.
When butchering a pig, you first have to open up the belly before you can take out the organs.
开膛，。
Zhè zhī jī yǐ jīng kāi táng guò le, zhí jiē kǎo jiù xíng.
This chicken has already been gutted; you can just roast it directly.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

开kāiopen

膛tángchest cavity

开 means open, and 膛 names the chest cavity, giving the sense of opening the body cavity.

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.

門一廾開

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

肉肉ròuflesh, meat

Sound part声符shēngfú

堂

堂táng膛táng

Same sound today

膛 puts 肉 (flesh, meat) beside 堂, which gives the sound.

Open 膛 →

Appears in

Cooking Organs & Anatomy