Definition

1. Verb:

   • To smudge, to dirty, to soil: The action of making something dirty, often by spreading a substance (like ink, paint, food, or dirt) in a messy or uneven way, creating a stain or smudge.
   • To become smeared: To become dirty or stained in this manner.

2. Adjective:

   • Dirty, soiled, smudged: Describes something that is dirty, especially with marks that are spread or smeared on the surface.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • Đứa trẻ lem mực lên tường. (The child smudged ink on the wall.)
  • Cô ấy vô tình lem son khi ăn. (She accidentally smeared her lipstick while eating.)
  • Đừng lem tay bẩn vào quần áo. (Don't dirty your clothes with your dirty hands.)

• Adjective:

  • Cái áo trắng bị lem vết dầu. (The white shirt is stained with an oil smudge.)
  • Mặt nó lem luốc vì bùn. (His face is all smeared with mud.)
  • Trang sách bị lem. (The book page is smudged.)

Advanced Usage

• "lem luốc" (adjective phrase): Very dirty, filthy, covered in smudges. This is an intensified form.
  • Sau khi chơi đá bóng, lũ trẻ về nhà mặt mũi lem luốc. (After playing soccer, the children came home with filthy, smudged faces.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lấm lem (adjective): Synonymous with "lem luốc," meaning very dirty or soiled.
  • Quần áo lấm lem bùn đất. (Clothes caked with mud and dirt.)
• Lem nhem (adjective): Describes something dirty or messy, often in a disorganized way (e.g., handwriting, a dirty surface).
  • Chữ viết lem nhem khó đọc. (The handwriting is scrawled and smudged, hard to read.)

Synonyms

• Verb: Làm bẩn (to dirty), vấy bẩn (to stain), bôi (to smear, to daub).
• Adjective: Bẩn (dirty), lấm bẩn (soiled), vấy bẩn (stained).

Related Idioms/Phrases

• "Mặt lem như mực": Literally "face smudged like ink," meaning a very dirty face.
  • Thằng bé nghịch than, mặt lem như mực. (The boy played with charcoal and his face was as black as ink.)
• "Lem đầu lem cổ": An idiomatic expression emphasizing being very dirty from head to neck.
  • Chạy mưa về, nó lem đầu lem cổ. (Running in the rain, he got dirty from head to toe.)

verb

1. to smudge

adj

1. dirty; soiled
   • lem luốc
     very dirty