Definition

1. Noun:
   • Stinging hair, urticating hair: A specialized hair or bristle found on certain plants (like nettles) or caterpillars that causes itching, stinging, or irritation upon contact with skin.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Khi chạm vào cây tầm ma, những sợi lông ngứa của nó có thể gây ra cảm giác rát bỏng. (When touching a nettle plant, its stinging hairs can cause a burning sensation.)
  • Một số loài sâu bướm có lông ngứa để tự vệ chống lại kẻ săn mồi. (Some caterpillar species have urticating hairs for defense against predators.)

Advanced Usage

• Botanical/Zoological Context: The term is primarily used in scientific or descriptive contexts to refer to the defensive mechanism of specific plants and animals.
  • Các nhà thực vật học nghiên cứu cơ chế gây ngứa của lông ngứa. (Botanists study the itching mechanism of urticating hairs.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lông tơ (n): Down, fine soft hair (does not cause irritation).
• Gai (n): Thorn, spine (a sharp-pointed structure, different from a stinging hair).

Synonyms

• Tơ độc (n): Literally "poisonous silk," sometimes used for caterpillar's irritating hairs.
• Lông urticant (n): A technical term derived from French, equivalent to "urticating hair."

Related Phrases/Idioms

Note: "Lông ngứa" itself is a specific noun and is not typically used in idiomatic expressions. The discomfort it causes is referenced in common phrases. - Ngứa như bị *lông ngứa chạm vào: To be as itchy as if touched by *stinging hairs (used to describe severe itching). - Sau khi đi trong bụi rậm, tôi cảm thấy ngứa như bị lông ngứa chạm vào. (After walking in the thicket, I felt as itchy as if touched by stinging hairs.)