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开除 (kāi chú) — to expel (from a school, organization, or team); to fire, to dismiss (an employee)

Definition

开除 covers expelling a member OR firing an employee — broader than 解雇/辞退 (employment only) or 罢免 (elected officials only). It's the most common everyday term for removing someone from a school, team, or company.

verb
to expel (from a school, organization, or team)to fireto dismiss (an employee)

Examples

  • ，开除。
    Yīn wèi zuò bì, tā bèi xué xiào kāi chú le.
    Because of cheating, he was expelled from school.
  • 开除。
    Gōng sī yīn wèi jīng yíng bú shàn kāi chú le hěn duō yuán gōng.
    The company fired many employees due to poor management.
  • 开除。
    Zhè ge qiú yuán yīn wèi dǎ jià bèi qiú duì kāi chú le.
    This player was expelled from the team for fighting.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

开kāiremove
除chúremove

Both 开 and 除 carry the sense of removing, so the action is to take someone out of an organization or job.

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 →

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
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú除chú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

除 is built from 阜 and 余, with 余 giving the sound.

Open 除 →
Appears in
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