Definition

1. Noun:
   • A small crab, typically found in rice fields: In Vietnamese dialects, "dam" refers to a type of small crab, often called a rice paddy crab.
   • A payment to the winner in a game: In the context of certain games or gambling, "dam" can mean the act of paying the winner or the sum paid.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Crab):

  • Trẻ con bắt được mấy con dam ngoài ruộng. (The children caught a few rice paddy crabs in the field.)
  • Dam thường sống trong các bờ ruộng. (Rice paddy crabs often live in the banks of rice fields.)

• Noun (Payment):

  • Sau ván bài, anh ta phải đóng dam. (After the card game, he had to pay the winner.)
  • Dam cho người thắng cuộc là năm mươi ngàn. (The payment for the winner is fifty thousand dong.)

Advanced Usage

• "Đánh dam": To play a game where the loser pays the winner.
  • Họ ngồi đánh dam cả buổi chiều. (They sat playing that paying game all afternoon.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cua đồng: A more common, standard term for a field crab or rice paddy crab.
• Tiền thưởng: Prize money, a more general term for a winner's payment.

Synonyms

• Cua nhỏ: Small crab (for the animal meaning).
• Tiền thua: Loss payment (for the game meaning).

Related Phrases

• Thua dam: To lose and have to pay in such a game.
  • Nó thua dam nên mặt buồn thiu. (He lost and had to pay, so he looked very sad.)

Related Idioms

• Chơi ăn dam: To play a game for money where the loser pays.
  • Bọn trẻ không dám chơi ăn dam với ông ấy. (The kids don't dare to play that paying game with him.)