Definition

1. Verb:
   • To save or use sparingly and with great care: The core meaning of "chắt chiu" is to conserve something valuable (like money, resources, or effort) in a very careful, frugal, and deliberate manner, often bit by bit.
   • To cherish and nurture carefully: It can also mean to protect, nurture, or guard something precious with immense attention and devotion.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Bà tôi chắt chiu từng đồng để dành cho con cháu. (My grandmother saved every single penny for her grandchildren.)
  • Người nông dân chắt chiu từng giọt nước trong mùa khô. (The farmer hoarded every drop of water during the dry season.)
  • Cô ấy chắt chiu những kỷ niệm đẹp thời sinh viên. (She cherished the beautiful memories from her student years.)

Advanced Usage

• "chắt chiu từng...": This common pattern emphasizes saving or nurturing individual units (e.g., - every grain of rice, - every coin). It highlights extreme care and frugality.
  • Sống một mình, anh ấy phải chắt chiu từng chi tiêu. (Living alone, he had to watch every single expense.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dành dụm (v): to save up, to put aside. This is a more common synonym for saving money, but lacks the nuanced connotation of extreme, careful conservation found in "chắt chiu."
• Nâng niu (v): to hold dear, to cherish tenderly. This shares the meaning of treating something with great care and affection, similar to the "cherish" sense of "chắt chiu."

Synonyms

• To hoard: to accumulate and store away carefully.
• To be frugal/thrifty: to use resources carefully and avoid waste.
• To cherish: to protect and care for lovingly.
• To husband: to use resources economically.

Related Idioms

• Chắt chiu đồng tiền, hạt gạo: This phrase encapsulates the core meaning, translating to "to save every coin and every grain of rice," symbolizing extreme thrift and careful management of resources.

verb

1. To nurse
   • chắt chiu từng gốc hoa
     to nurse every flower plant
2. To save every amount of
   • chắt chiu từng hạt gạo
     to save every grain of rice
   • ít chắt chiu hơn nhiều vung phí
     one will be better off with little and thrift than with much and extravagance; thrift is a great revenue