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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Open Up: Meaning, Examples, and Usage Guide (3 meaning)

Meaning 1：share personal feelings (open up)

open up 🔊

/ˈoʊpən ʌp/

phr.v.

To start talking honestly about your feelings or personal thoughts.

Open up sharing feelings: two friends talking on park bench

share personal feelings 🔊

➕

/ʃɛr ˈpɜːrsənl ˈfiːlɪŋz/

phr.v.

To willingly express one's private emotions, thoughts, or experiences, especially after initial hesitation.

📁 Category：Physical & Mental Health 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Old English 'open' + 'up', meaning to make accessible or reveal.

💡 Mnemonic

Imagine opening a locked chest to reveal your secrets; that's 'open up' emotionally.

📖 Example

After a few games, he began to open up and told me about his dreams of becoming a musician. 🔊 After a few games, he began to open up and told me about his dreams of becoming a musician.

🔗 Collocations

open up to someone – to confide in someone

open up about something – to reveal information about something

finally open up – to start sharing after holding back

🔄 Synonyms

confide (v.) – to tell personal secrets to someone you trust

reveal (v.) – to make something known

unburden (v.) – to free oneself from a burden by sharing feelings

🚫 Antonyms

hide (v.) – to keep secret

conceal (v.) – to prevent from being known

withhold (v.) – to refuse to give

📖 Cultural Story

The phrasal verb 'open up' originated from the literal sense of opening something (e.g., a door), and by extension came to mean sharing feelings or starting a business, reflecting a metaphor of access.

Meaning 2：open a business (open up)

open up 🔊

/ˈoʊpən ʌp/

phr.v.

To start a new business, shop, or service.

Open up a business: grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony

open a business 🔊

➕

/ˈoʊpən ə ˈbɪznɪs/

phr.v.

To start a new commercial enterprise, such as a store, restaurant, or service facility.

📁 Category：Social Economy 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

They plan to open up a small coffee shop near the university next month. 🔊 They plan to open up a small coffee shop near the university next month.

🔗 Collocations

open up a shop – to start a retail store

open up for business – to begin operations

decide to open up – to make a decision to start a business

🔄 Synonyms

establish (v.) – to set up a business

launch (v.) – to start a new venture

found (v.) – to bring into existence

🚫 Antonyms

close down (phr.v.) – to cease operations

shut down (phr.v.) – to close permanently

🌱 Derivatives

opening (n.) – the act of starting a business

Meaning 3：make accessible (open up)

open up 🔊

/ˈoʊpən ʌp/

phr.v.

To make something accessible or available by opening it.

Open up door: hand unlocking old wooden door

make accessible 🔊

➕

/meɪk ækˈsɛsəbəl/

phr.v.

To physically open something that was closed or locked, allowing entry or passage.

📁 Category：Behaviors & Actions 🔖 Level：Beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

Could you open up the window? It's a bit stuffy in here. 🔊 Could you open up the window? It's a bit stuffy in here.

🔗 Collocations

open up a door – to unlock and open a door

open up a package – to unwrap or unseal a package

open up a window – to raise or slide open a window

🔄 Synonyms

unlock (v.) – to open a lock

unseal (v.) – to break a seal to open

undo (v.) – to open something that is closed

🚫 Antonyms

close (v.) – to shut

lock (v.) – to fasten with a lock

seal (v.) – to close securely