Definition

1. Verb:
   • To make a clicking or smacking sound with one's lips: The action of pressing the lips together and then parting them to create a soft, sharp sound, often to express an emotion or reaction.
   • To sigh with a clicking sound: To emit a sigh accompanied by this lip sound, typically conveying feelings like regret, dissatisfaction, sympathy, or contemplation.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Cô ấy chỉ chép miệng, không nói gì cả. (She just clicked her tongue/smacked her lips and said nothing.)
  • Nghe câu chuyện buồn, anh ấy chép miệng thở dài. (Hearing the sad story, he sighed with a click of his lips.)
  • Ông cụ chép miệng, lắc đầu từ chối. (The old man smacked his lips and shook his head in refusal.)

Advanced Usage

• "chép miệng thở dài": To sigh with a click/smack of the lips. This is a common collocation describing a compound action that vividly conveys deep feeling.
  • Chép miệng thở dài, cô ấy bước ra khỏi phòng. (Clicking her tongue and sighing, she walked out of the room.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chép (verb): While "chép" alone often means "to copy" or "to transcribe," in this specific reduplicative form "chép miệng," it describes the sound and action of the lips.
• Tặc lưỡi (verb): To click one's tongue. This is a closely related action and expression, sometimes used in similar emotional contexts, though the sound is made with the tongue against the palate.

Synonyms

• Làm tiếng động bằng môi: To make a sound with one's lips. (A descriptive phrase, not a single word).
• (To) Tut or (to) Tsk: English interjections or verbs describing a similar disapproving or sympathetic clicking sound, though often made with the tongue.

Related Phrases

• Chép miệng ngao ngán: To click one's lips in weariness or dismay.
  • Anh ta chép miệng ngao ngán trước đống việc. (He clicked his lips in dismay at the pile of work.)

Related Idioms

• Chép miệng ăn năn: To click one's lips in regret (often for something missed, like a good opportunity).
  • Thấy món ngon đã hết, nó chỉ biết chép miệng ăn năn. (Seeing the delicious food was all gone, he could only click his lips in regret.)

1. To chirp (with one's lips)
   • chép miệng thở dài
     to have a sigh with a chirping noise from one's lips, to chirp out a sigh