cấu

Thân thiện

Một đứa trẻ cấu vào tay bạn mình khi chơi đùa.

Definition

1. Verb:

   • To pinch or nip with fingernails: To use the thumb and forefinger's nails to grip and twist a small piece of skin or soft material, often causing a sharp sensation.
   • To take a small pinch or bit: To remove or separate a tiny portion of something, especially soft food, using a pinching action with the fingers.

2. Verb (figurative):

   • To pilfer or nibble away at: To take small amounts from a larger resource, fund, or supply, often gradually or stealthily.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Đừng cấu em! (Don't pinch your sibling!)
  • Cô ấy cấu một miếng bánh mì. (She pinched off a piece of bread.)
  • Tiền quỹ bị mọi người cấu dần. (The fund money was gradually nibbled away by everyone.)

Advanced Usage

• The action of is typically small in scale, involving fingertips and implying a precise, often sharp, grasping motion. It is more specific and forceful than the general verb "to pinch" ().

Variants and Related Words

• Cấu véo (v): to pinch and twist, emphasizing a more painful action.
  • Đứa trẻ hay cấu véo bạn. (The child often pinches and twists his friend.)

Synonyms

• To pinch: to squeeze sharply between the thumb and a finger.
• To nip: to pinch or bite off a small piece.
• To pilfer: to steal small amounts of things of little value.

Related Idioms

• Cấu của công: to pilfer from public or collective resources.
  • Hắn ta chuyên cấu của công để làm giàu. (He specializes in pilfering public assets to get rich.)

Học thuật

verb

1. To claw
   • bị hổ cấu rách mặt
     to have one's face clawed by a tiger
2. To nib, to pinch
   • cấu miếng xôi
     to nip off a bit of sticky rice