Definition

1. Verb:

   • To steam: To cook food by exposing it to steam from boiling water, without immersing it in the water itself.
   • To sterilize: To disinfect or eliminate germs using heat, often steam.
   • To dry-clean: To clean clothes, especially wool or delicate fabrics, using chemical solvents instead of water.
   • To set/fix a dye: To treat fabric with steam or heat to make a color permanent or to change its shade.

2. Verb (less common):

   • To inhale; to absorb: To take in or absorb something, such as air or a substance. This meaning is primarily used in specific compound words.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Mẹ hấp cá với gừng. (Mom steams fish with ginger.)
  • Các dụng cụ y tế phải được hấp tiệt trùng. (Medical instruments must be sterilized.)
  • Tôi mang áo len đi hấp. (I took the wool sweater to be dry-cleaned.)
  • Tấm vải này cần hấp cho màu bền. (This fabric needs to have its dye set for colorfastness.)

Advanced Usage

• "hấp hơi": to steam briefly or to be steamed; sometimes used figuratively for being in a hot, stifling environment.
  • Bánh bao chỉ cần hấp hơi mười phút. (The baozi only needs to be steamed for ten minutes.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hô hấp (v/n): to breathe; respiration.

  • Hô hấp nhân tạo (Artificial respiration).

• Hấp thụ (v): to absorb, to assimilate.

  • Cây cối hấp thụ chất dinh dưỡng. (Plants absorb nutrients.)

• Hấp dẫn (adj): attractive, appealing, fascinating.

  • Một bộ phim hấp dẫn. (A fascinating movie.)

Synonyms

• To steam: To cook with vapor.
• To sterilize: To disinfect, to sanitize.
• To dry-clean: To clean chemically.
• To fix (a dye): To set a color.

Related Idioms

• Hấp hơi say: (Colloquial) to be slightly drunk or tipsy.
  • Anh ta chỉ hấp hơi say thôi. (He's just a little tipsy.)

verb

1. to steam; to braise; to curse; to dry-clean (clothes)

verb

1. to inhale; to absorb
   • hô hấp
     to breath