開口

See also: 开口

Chinese

open; operate (vehicle); start mouth; (a measure word, for people, livestock or utensils)
trad. (開口)
simp. (开口)

Pronunciation


Verb

開口

  1. to open one's mouth; (impersonal) to have an opening
    Synonyms: 動嘴 / 动嘴 (dòngzuǐ), (literary) 啟齒 / 启齿 (qǐchǐ), (Hokkien, Puxian Min) 開喙 / 开喙
    開著口睡覺开着口睡觉  ―  kāi zhe kǒu shuìjiào  ―  sleep with their mouth open
    開著口書包开着口书包  ―  kāi zhe kǒu de shūbāo  ―  open schoolbag
    開著口隧道开着口隧道  ―  kāi zhe kǒu de suìdào  ―  gaping tunnel
  2. to start talking or singing
    Synonyms: 動嘴 / 动嘴 (dòngzuǐ), (literary) 啟齒 / 启齿 (qǐchǐ), (Hokkien, Puxian Min) 開喙 / 开喙
    開口全場安靜 [MSC, trad.]
    开口全场安静 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā yī kāikǒu, quánchǎng dōu ānjìng le. [Pinyin]
    The whole arena hushed as they began to sing.
  3. to speak up (to dare to speak)
    不敢開口表白不敢开口表白  ―  bùgǎn kāikǒu biǎobái  ―  is too shy to (speak up and) confess one's love
    開口开口 [Cantonese]  ―  m4 gam2 hoi1 hau2 man6 [Jyutping]  ―  is too shy to dare ask
  4. to laugh out loud
  5. to crack open
  6. to sharpen (a new knife or pair of scissors) before use
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:開刃
  7. to breach a dam
  8. (literary) to eat

Derived terms

Noun

開口

  1. opening
  2. (Chinese phonetics) short for 開口呼开口呼 (kāikǒuhū, “open-mouth sounds”)
  3. (aviation) open jaw

Japanese

Kanji in this term
かい
Grade: 3
こう
Grade: 1
on'yomi

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ka̠iko̞ː]

Noun

(かい)(こう) • (kaikō

  1. an opening such as an open window
  2. opening one's mouth and starting to speak

Verb

(かい)(こう)する • (kaikō surusuru (stem (かい)(こう) (kaikō shi), past (かい)(こう)した (kaikō shita))

  1. open one's mouth (and begin to speak)

Conjugation