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张大 (zhāng dà) — to open wide (eyes, mouth, etc.); to magnify, to enlarge; to exaggerate

Definition

Literary verb meaning 'to open wide' (eyes, mouth) or 'to magnify/enlarge' (size, amount, importance). Not used for ordinary everyday actions — use 睁开 for opening eyes and 扩大 for enlarging in neutral writing.

verb
to open wide (eyes, mouth, etc.)to magnifyto enlargeto exaggerate

Examples

  • 张大，。
    Tā xià dé zhāng dà le yǎn jing, bàn tiān shuō bù chū huà lái.
    He was so scared he opened his eyes wide and couldn't speak for a long time.
  • 张大。
    Yòng xiǎn wēi jìng kě yǐ bǎ wēi shēng wù zhāng dà xǔ duō bèi.
    A microscope can magnify microorganisms many times.
  • 张大，。
    Tā zài huì bào zhōng zhāng dà le shì shí, lǐng dǎo hěn bù mǎn yì.
    He exaggerated the facts in his report, and the leader was very dissatisfied.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

张zhāngopen
大dàwide

张 (open) and 大 (wide) together mean to open wide, enlarge, or exaggerate.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 張; 张 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
弓弓gōngbow
Sound part声符shēngfú
長
長cháng張zhāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 張 combines 弓, a bow, with 長, which points to the sound; the simplified 张 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 张 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →
Appears in
Size & Dimension

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