开销

開銷

kāixiāo

noun HSK 7-9 #10,841

Meanings

1 expenses; expenditure; spending

Characters

to open; to spend

to sell; to consume; to spend

Both characters can mean 'to spend' — together they form a noun meaning expenses or outlays.

Examples

在大城市生活开销很大。

Zài dàchéngshì shēnghuó kāixiāo hěn dà.

The cost of living in a big city is very high.

他的月开销超过了收入。

Tā de yuè kāixiāo chāoguò le shōurù.

His monthly expenses exceed his income.

Tips

usage

开销 is slightly more colloquial than 开支 (kāizhī), which is used in formal/accounting contexts. In everyday speech, both work, but 开销 feels more natural when complaining about how expensive things are.

Stroke Order

开 kāi

销 xiāo