起家
qǐ jiā
Pinyin

Definition

起家
 - 
qǐ jiā
  1. to start out by
  2. to grow an enterprise beginning with
  3. to begin one's career by

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

yī qǐ
  1. 1 in the same place
  2. 2 together
  3. 3 with
  4. 4 altogether (in total)
jiā
  1. 1 see 傢伙|家伙[jiā huo]
huí jiā
  1. 1 to return home
zài yī qǐ
  1. 1 together
dà jiā
  1. 1 everyone
  2. 2 influential family
  3. 3 great expert
wán jiā
  1. 1 player (of a game)
  2. 2 enthusiast (audio, model planes etc)
fā qǐ
  1. 1 to originate
  2. 2 to initiate
  3. 3 to launch (an attack, an initiative etc)
  4. 4 to start
  5. 5 to propose sth (for the first time)
  1. 1 to rise
  2. 2 to raise
  3. 3 to get up
  4. 4 to set out
  5. 5 to start
  6. 6 to appear
  7. 7 to launch
  8. 8 to initiate (action)
  9. 9 to draft
  10. 10 to establish
  11. 11 to get (from a depot or counter)
  12. 12 verb suffix, to start
  13. 13 starting from (a time, place, price etc)
  14. 14 classifier for occurrences or unpredictable events: case, instance
  15. 15 classifier for groups: batch, group
qǐ lai
  1. 1 to stand up
  2. 2 to get up
  3. 3 also pr. [qǐ lái]
qǐ chuáng
  1. 1 to get out of bed
  2. 2 to get up
liǎo bu qǐ
  1. 1 amazing
  2. 2 terrific
  3. 3 extraordinary
rén jiā
  1. 1 household
  2. 2 dwelling
  3. 3 family
  4. 4 sb else's house
  5. 5 household business
  6. 6 house of woman's husband-to-be
  7. 7 CL:戶|户[hù],家[jiā]
zuò jiā
  1. 1 author
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè],位[wèi]
jiā huo
  1. 1 variant of 家伙[jiā huo]
yuān jia
  1. 1 enemy
  2. 2 foe
  3. 3 (in opera) sweetheart or destined love
dào jiā
  1. 1 perfect
  2. 2 excellent
  3. 3 brought to the utmost degree
gōu qǐ
  1. 1 to evoke
  2. 2 to induce
  3. 3 to call to mind
  4. 4 to pick up with a hook
shēng qǐ
  1. 1 to raise
  2. 2 to hoist
  3. 3 to rise
hé jiā
  1. 1 whole family
  2. 2 entire household
zá jiā
  1. 1 I
  2. 2 me
  3. 3 my
  4. 4 (often used in early vernacular literature)

Idioms (20)

一波未平,一波又起
yī bō wèi píng , yī bō yòu qǐ
  1. 1 before the first wave subsides, a new wave rises (idiom); a new problem arises before the old is solved
  2. 2 many twists and turns to a story
  3. 3 one thing after another
一病不起
yī bìng bù qǐ
  1. 1 to fall gravely ill, never to recover (idiom)
不是一家人不进一家门
bù shì yī jiā rén bù jìn yī jiā mén
  1. 1 people who don't belong together, don't get to live together (idiom)
  2. 2 marriages are predestined
  3. 3 people marry because they share common traits
不是冤家不聚头
bù shì yuān jiā bù jù tóu
  1. 1 destiny will make enemies meet (idiom)
  2. 2 (often said about lovers who have a disagreement)
不当家不知柴米贵
bù dāng jiā bù zhī chái mǐ guì
  1. 1 a person who doesn't manage a household would not be aware how expensive it is (idiom)
事不关己,高高挂起
shì bù guān jǐ , gāo gāo guà qǐ
  1. 1 to feel unconcerned and let matters rest (idiom)
事怕行家
shì pà háng jiā
  1. 1 an expert always produces the best work (idiom)
五百年前是一家
wǔ bǎi nián qián shì yī jiā
  1. 1 five hundred years ago we were the same family (idiom) (said of persons with the same surname)
人给家足
rén jǐ jiā zú
  1. 1 lit. each household provided for, enough for the individual (idiom); comfortably off
任凭风浪起,稳坐钓鱼台
rèn píng fēng làng qǐ , wěn zuò diào yú tái
  1. 1 lit. sitting at ease in a fishing boat despite wind and storm (idiom); to stay calm during tense situation
  2. 2 a cool head in a crisis
保家卫国
bǎo jiā wèi guó
  1. 1 guard home, defend the country (idiom); national defense
倾家荡产
qīng jiā dàng chǎn
  1. 1 to lose a family fortune (idiom)
兵家常事
bīng jiā cháng shì
  1. 1 commonplace in military operations (idiom)
冤家对头
yuān jiā duì tóu
  1. 1 enemy (idiom); opponent
  2. 2 arch-enemy
冤家路窄
yuān jiā lù zhǎi
  1. 1 lit. enemies on a narrow road (idiom); fig. an inevitable clash between opposing factions
勤俭起家
qín jiǎn qǐ jiā
  1. 1 to rise up by thrift and hard work (idiom)
千家万户
qiān jiā wàn hù
  1. 1 every family (idiom)
另起炉灶
lìng qǐ lú zào
  1. 1 lit. to set up a separate kitchen (idiom); to start from scratch
  2. 2 back to square one
  3. 3 to start of on a new path
吃人家的嘴软,拿人家的手短
chī rén jiā de zuǐ ruǎn , ná rén jiā de shǒu duǎn
  1. 1 lit. the mouth that has been fed by others is soft, the hand that has received doesn't reach (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. one is partial to those from whom presents have been accepted
各人自扫门前雪,莫管他家瓦上霜
gè rén zì sǎo mén qián xuě , mò guǎn tā jiā wǎ shàng shuāng
  1. 1 sweep the snow from your own door step, don't worry about the frost on your neighbor's roof (idiom)

Sample Sentences

是啊!当时上海连签证都不要,外国人能自由出入。好多在国外混得平平的人,在上海白手起家,成了大资本家。相比之下,国内来上海讨生活的人就艰苦多了。好多人都是生活在最底层的苦力或是小商贩。
shì a !dāngshí Shànghǎi lián qiānzhèng dōu bù yào ,wàiguórén néng zìyóu chūrù 。hǎoduō zài guówài hùn de píngpíng de rén ,zài Shànghǎi báishǒuqǐjiā ,chéng le dà zīběnjiā 。xiāngbǐzhīxià ,guónèi lái Shànghǎi tǎo shēnghuó de rén jiù jiānkù duō le 。hǎoduō rén dōu shì shēnghuó zài zuì dīcéng de kǔlì huòshì xiǎo shāngfàn 。
Yeah! At that time, you didn't even need a visa to come to Shanghai. Foreigners could come and go at will. A lot of people who were just muddling along came here from abroad. Starting from scratch, they became big capitalists. In comparison, Chinese who came to Shanghai to make their living had it a lot tougher. A lot of people lived on the lowest level of society, doing hard manual labor or working as small merchants.
很多白手起家的大老板江湖味都很重。
hěn duō báishǒuqǐjiā de dà lǎobǎn jiānghúwèi dōu hěn zhòng 。
A lot of bosses that started/came from nothing give off a strong gangsta vibe
Go to Lesson 
小李,不错啊,白手起家,现在已经有了五家门店了。
Xiǎo Lǐ ,bùcuò a ,báishǒuqǐjiā ,xiànzài yǐjīng yǒu le wǔ jiā méndiàn le 。
Xiao Li, not bad. You started completely from scratch and now you already have 5 shops.