Meaning of 拉开
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to pull open
- to pull apart
- to space out
- to increase
How to use 拉开
拉开 is used for physically pulling things open, like doors, drawers, curtains or zippers. It also describes widening a gap or distance, as in 拉开距离 (lākāi jùlí, to open up a distance). Example: 她拉开窗帘。(Tā lākāi chuānglián.) She pulled open the curtains.
拉 (lā) means to pull, and 开 (kāi) means open or apart. Picture your hand pulling a curtain until it slides open: pull + open = 拉开.
Common mistake: Learners often use 拉开 for every kind of opening, but for turning on devices or opening a book you need 打开 (dǎkāi), not 拉开. Also keep 拉 in the first tone (lā), not the fourth.
拉开 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
拉 lā · to pull · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
开 kāi · to open · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 拉开.
| 打开 | dǎkāi | to open; to show (a ticket) |
| 开玩笑 | kāi wánxiào | to play a joke; to make fun of; to joke |
| 开车 | kāichē | to drive a car (or train etc); (slang) to post sexual content online; to make a sexual jok |
| 开会 | kāihuì | to hold or attend a meeting |
| 离开 | líkāi | to depart; to leave |
| 开心 | kāixīn | to feel happy; to rejoice |
| 走开 | zǒukāi | to leave; to walk away; to beat it; to move aside |
| 分开 | fēnkāi | to separate; to part |
| 开学 | kāixué | (of a student) to start school; (of a semester) to begin |
| 开机 | kāijī | to start an engine; to boot up (a computer) |
| 开始 | kāishǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 公开 | gōngkāi | open; overt; public; to make public; to release |
Questions about 拉开
What does 拉开 mean?
拉开 (lākāi) means "to pull open; to pull apart".
How do you write 拉开?
拉开 is made of 2 characters: 拉 (8 strokes), 开 (4 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 拉开 an HSK word?
Yes. 拉开 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 拉开 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 拉开 is written 拉開.
What does 拉开序幕 mean?
拉开序幕 (lākāi xùmù) literally means to pull open the curtain on a prologue. It is a set phrase meaning that an event or era has begun, often seen in news reports, such as a competition kicking off.
Can 拉开 be used to separate people who are fighting?
Yes. 把他们拉开 (bǎ tāmen lākāi) means to pull them apart. This matches the sense of pulling two things away from each other.