Definition

1. Noun:
   • Gac fruit: A tropical vine fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis) native to Southeast Asia, characterized by a spiky orange-red rind and deep red flesh. The fruit's pulp and seeds are used in Vietnamese cuisine, most notably to color and flavor sticky rice (xôi gấc).
   • Gac plant: The climbing vine that produces the gac fruit, belonging to the melon and squash family (Cucurbitaceae).

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Xôi gấc là một món ăn truyền thống của Việt Nam. (Gac sticky rice is a traditional Vietnamese dish.)
  • Quả gấc có màu đỏ rất đẹp. (The gac fruit has a very beautiful red color.)
  • Họ trồng gấc ở trong vườn. (They grow gac plants in the garden.)

Advanced Usage

• "đỏ như gấc" (as red as gac): An idiom describing a vibrant, deep red color, often used for someone's flushed face (e.g., from embarrassment, anger, or heat) or for red objects.
  • Cậu bé xấu hổ, mặt đỏ như gấc. (The boy was embarrassed, his face was as red as gac.)

Variants and Related Words

• Xôi gấc (n): Sticky rice cooked with gac fruit pulp, giving it a distinctive red color and mild flavor. It is often served at festive occasions.
• Dầu gấc (n): Gac oil, an extract from the fruit's pulp and seeds, rich in beta-carotene and lycopene, used as a dietary supplement and in cooking.
• Hạt gấc (n): Gac seed, the seed found within the red pulp of the fruit.

Synonyms

• Momordica cochinchinensis: The scientific/botanical name for the gac plant.
• Sweet cucumber (less common): An occasional English name referring to its plant family, though "gac fruit" is the standard term.

Notes on Different Meanings

• The provided reference context ("Space under (a bed, car...)") is incorrect for the word 'gấc' (fruit/plant). That definition belongs to the homonym 'gầm', which means "the space underneath" (e.g., gầm giường, gầm cầu). The user's task is to explain the word 'gấc', which is exclusively the fruit/plant.

1. Space under (a bed, car, bridgẹ..)
   • Chui xuống gầm để chữa
     To slip under one's car and put something right