DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

開關

简开关 · 繁開關

Mandarin · pinyin kāi guān

power switch
gas valve
to open the city (or frontier) gate
to open and close
to switch on and off

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Characters in this entry

開: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
關: Look up this written character
开: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
关: guān · frontier pass; close; relation

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · kai1 guan1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

開關 · find source passages ↗ · 开关 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hoi1 gwaan1

Cantonese word readings for 開關. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

switch (device for controlling supply of electricity)

verb

to open and close; to turn on and off
to open the gate to a city
(by extension) to open borders

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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