开天窗

開天窗

kāi tiānchuāng

phrase #25,497

Meanings

1 to leave a blank space (in a newspaper or magazine, where an item was pulled)
2 to open a skylight
3 to leave something unfinished

Characters

Examples

HSK 4

他答应帮忙，结果开天窗，一个人都没请到。

Tā dāying bāngmáng, jiéguǒ kāi tiānchuāng, yí ge rén dōu méi qǐng dào.

He promised to help but ended up leaving it empty-handed, he didn't invite a single person.

HSK 7-9

专栏作者病了，这期杂志只好开天窗。

Zhuānlán zuòzhě bìng le, zhè qī zázhì zhǐhǎo kāi tiānchuāng.

The columnist fell ill, so this issue of the magazine had to go out with a blank space.

HSK 7-9

报社宁愿开天窗，也不愿刊登那篇文章。

Bàoshè nìngyuàn kāi tiānchuāng, yě bú yuàn kāndēng nà piān wénzhāng.

The newspaper would rather leave a blank than publish that article.

Tips

culture

开天窗 (literally 'open a skylight') comes from the press: a blank space left on a page where an article was pulled looks like a window cut into it. It can also mean failing to deliver on a promise.

Stroke Order

开 kāi

天 tiān

窗 chuāng