serve a meal; start serving food
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
2 senses · 6 examplesverb
to serve a meal; to lay out food ready to eat
informalCommonly used in family or small group settings to announce that the meal is ready.
Mā妈
ma妈
zài在
chú厨
fáng房
hǎn喊
dào道
：
“
kāi开
fàn饭
le了
！
”
Mom called from the kitchen, "Time to eat!"
Cài菜
dōu都
shàng上
qí齐
le了
，
wǒ我
men们
kāi开
fàn饭
ba吧
。
All the dishes are served, let's start eating.
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Tā他
fù负
zé责
zài在
jù聚
cān餐
shí时
xuān宣
bù布
kāi开
fàn饭
。
He is responsible for announcing the start of the meal at the gathering.
verb
(of a canteen/cafeteria) to start serving food
Refers specifically to the start of meal service at an institutional dining facility like a school, company, or army canteen.
Xué学
xiào校
shí食
táng堂
zhōng中
wǔ午
shí十
yī一
diǎn点
bàn半
kāi开
fàn饭
。
The school cafeteria starts serving lunch at 11:30.
Kuài快
diǎn点
qù去
，
shí食
táng堂
gāng刚
kāi开
fàn饭
，
bù不
yòng用
pái排
duì队
。
Hurry up and go, the canteen just started serving, so there's no line yet.
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Wǒ我
men们
gōng公
sī司
de的
cān餐
tīng厅
xià下
wǔ午
wǔ五
diǎn点
zhǔn准
shí时
kāi开
fàn饭
。
Our company's dining hall starts serving dinner promptly at 5 PM.