Definition

1. Verb:
   • To clear, to free from obstruction: The primary meaning refers to the action of removing obstacles or blockages to make something passable or functional again.
   • To open up, to make accessible: It can also mean to develop or create a new passage, route, or channel, making circulation or transportation possible.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Công nhân đang khai thông một con đường bị sạt lở. (Workers are clearing a road blocked by a landslide.)
  • Dự án này nhằm khai thông tuyến giao thông kết nối hai tỉnh. (This project aims to open up a traffic route connecting two provinces.)
  • Kỹ sư đề xuất phương án khai thông cống ngầm bị tắc. (The engineer proposed a plan to clear the clogged sewer.)

Advanced Usage

• "khai thông tư tưởng": to enlighten, to free someone's mind (from misconceptions or rigid thinking). This is a figurative use.
  • Buổi nói chuyện đã giúp khai thông tư tưởng cho nhiều sinh viên. (The talk helped enlighten many students.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thông suốt (adj): clear, unobstructed, smooth (often for traffic, communication, or thought).
  • Sau khi được khai thông, mọi hoạt động đã trở nên thông suốt. (After being cleared, all operations became smooth.)
• Khai mở (v): to open up, to pioneer (often used in abstract contexts like knowledge or new fields).
  • Nhà khoa học khai mở một hướng nghiên cứu mới. (The scientist opened up a new research direction.)

Synonyms

• Thông thoáng: to ventilate, to make airy; (figuratively) to make less restrictive.
• Giải tỏa: to relieve, to ease (congestion, pressure); to clear (an area).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

Note: As a compound verb, "khai thông" itself functions as a phrasal unit. Related phrases often involve its direct object. - Khai thông đường đi: to clear a path/road. - Khai thông dòng chảy: to clear/unblock a water flow.

Related Idioms

• "Khai thông kinh mạch": (literally: to clear the meridians). This originates from traditional medicine and is used figuratively to mean resolving a critical blockage in a system or process, allowing energy or resources to flow smoothly again.
  • Việc đầu tư vào hạ tầng giống như khai thông kinh mạch cho nền kinh tế. (Investing in infrastructure is like clearing the meridians for the economy.)

1. Clear,free (something) of obstruction
   • Khai thông con kênh
     To clear a canal of obstruction