The word **开饭** (kāifàn) is a compound verb formed by combining the character **开** (kāi), meaning "to open" or "to start," with **饭** (fàn), meaning "meal" or "cooked rice." It functions as an idiomatic phrase where the literal sense of "opening the meal" metaphorically extends to mean "to serve a meal" or "to begin eating," often used as an announcement that food is ready. This formation follows a common Chinese syntactic pattern where a verb (**开**) directs an action onto a noun (**饭**), creating a new, specific meaning that is more than the sum of its parts, encapsulating the cultural act of commencing a shared dining activity.