Definitions

1. Noun:

   • Stalk, stem, blade: The slender, often cylindrical, part of a plant, especially of soft-stemmed plants like grasses, vegetables, or herbs. It is the part that supports leaves, flowers, or fruits.
   • Strand, filament: A single, thin piece or thread of a material like hair, straw, or fiber.
   • (Dialectal) Peduncle, stalk: The small stem that supports a single flower or fruit.

2. Adjective (Top, slang):

   • Top-tier, excellent, cool: (Modern, informal slang, especially among youth) Used to describe something or someone as very good, impressive, or of high quality.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Cô ấy nhặt từng cọng rơm trên sân. (She picked up each blade of straw in the yard.)
  • Tóc cô ấy có một cọng bạc. (She has a single strand of white hair.)
  • Con sâu bám chặt vào cọng hoa. (The caterpillar clung tightly to the flower stalk.)

• Adjective (Slang):

  • Bộ phim mới này thật sự rất cọng! (This new movie is really top/awesome!)
  • Phong cách của anh ấy quá cọng. (His style is too cool.)

Advanced Usage

• "cọng rau": A stalk of vegetable/greens. Often used to emphasize something very small or insignificant.

  • Anh ta keo kiệt đến từng cọng rau. (He is stingy down to every single stalk of vegetable.)

• "cọng rơm cũng không bỏ": (Idiomatic) Literally "not even discarding a blade of straw"; used to describe extreme frugality or meticulousness.

Variants and Related Words

• Gọng (noun): Frame (e.g., of glasses, a mosquito net). Note: While sometimes used interchangeably in some dialects, "gọng" specifically means a rigid frame.
• Cộng (verb): To add, to sum up (mathematics). A homophone with a completely different meaning.
• Nhánh (noun): Branch, twig (typically of a tree or shrub, thicker than a "cọng").
• Cuống (noun): Stem, stalk (often shorter and stouter, like the stem of a leaf or fruit).

Synonyms

• Noun: Thân cây nhỏ (small plant stem), sợi (strand, filament), cán (peduncle - botanical).
• Adjective (Slang): Tuyệt vời (excellent), chất lượng (quality), ngầu (cool).

Related Phrases/Idioms

• Hạt gạo cắn đôi, cọng rau bẻ nửa: (Traditional saying) "Split a grain of rice in half, break a stalk of vegetable in two." Symbolizes sharing even the smallest, most meager possessions, representing deep solidarity and love in hardship.

noun

1. Blade

adj

1. Tops