开动

開動

kāidòng

verb HSK 7-9 #7,119

Meanings

1 to start (a machine)
2 to set in motion
3 to start eating (colloquial)

Characters

to open; to start

to move; to act

Examples

工人开动了机器。

Gōngrén kāidòng le jīqì.

The worker started the machine.

菜都上齐了，开动吧！

Cài dōu shàng qí le, kāidòng ba!

All the dishes are served, let's dig in!

Tips

usage

Besides starting machines, 开动 is colloquially used to mean "let's eat" (开动吧！). Also used in 开动脑筋 (to use one's brain/think hard).

Stroke Order

开 kāi

动 dòng