chắt chiu

Thân thiện

Bà ngoại chắt chiu từng đồng để dành cho con cháu ăn học.

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.

Học thuật

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