gạn
Definition
- Verb:
- To decant, to pour off carefully: To gently pour a liquid to separate the clear part from the sediment or solid residue, leaving the dregs behind.
- To interrogate thoroughly, to press for details: To ask questions persistently and meticulously to extract clear, detailed information or the truth from someone.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Cô ấy gạn nước mắm để bỏ bã. (She decanted the fish sauce to remove the sediment.)
- Gạn lấy nước trong, bỏ cặn đục. (Carefully pour off the clear liquid, discarding the murky dregs.)
- Nhà báo gạn hỏi thủ phạm để tìm ra sự thật. (The journalist pressed the culprit with questions to find the truth.)
- Anh ta gạn ý từng người trong cuộc họp. (He meticulously sounded out each person's opinion in the meeting.)
Advanced Usage
- "gạn đục, khơi trong": This is a common idiomatic phrase. Literally, it means "to decant the murky, to dredge up the clear." Figuratively, it describes the act of removing bad or impure elements to retain or restore what is good, pure, or valuable. It can refer to clarifying a situation, purifying one's character, or salvaging useful knowledge from a mass of information.
- Công việc của nhà sử học là gạn đục khơi trong, tìm ra sự thật lịch sử. (The historian's work is to sift the pure from the impure to find historical truth.)
Variants and Related Words
- Gạn hỏi (verb phrase): To interrogate, to question thoroughly.
- Cảnh sát gạn hỏi nghi phạm. (The police interrogated the suspect.)
- Lọc gạn (verb): To filter and decant; a more comprehensive term for purification or separation.
Synonyms
- Decant, pour off: (for the liquid meaning) .
- Interrogate, probe, press: (for the questioning meaning) .
Related Idioms
- "Gạn đến giọt cuối cùng": Literally "to decant to the last drop." It means to extract every last bit of something, whether it's a liquid, information, or effort.
- Họ gạn đến giọt cuối cùng thông tin từ nhân chứng. (They extracted every last bit of information from the witness.)