lốt
Definition
Noun:
- Skin / Slough / Exuviae: The outer skin or shell shed by certain animals, such as snakes or insects, during growth.
- Disguise / Guise / False Appearance: A deceptive outer covering or pretense used to conceal one's true identity or nature.
- Trace / Mark: An imprint or mark left behind, such as a footprint.
Noun (Botany):
- A type of plant: Refers specifically to the "lá lốt" plant, a small, aromatic vine whose leaves are commonly used as a culinary herb in Vietnamese cuisine, often to cook with frog or eel meat.
Usage Examples
- Noun (Animal skin):
- Tìm thấy một cái lốt rắn trong vườn. (Found a snake skin in the garden.)
- Noun (Disguise):
- Hắn đội lốt một người hành khất. (He disguised himself as a beggar.)
- Noun (Trace):
- Chó săn đánh hơi theo lốt chân. (The hound tracks by the scent of the footprints.)
- Noun (Plant):
- Canh ếch nấu với lá lốt rất thơm. (Frog soup cooked with lá lốt leaves is very fragrant.)
Advanced Usage
- "Đội lốt": To wear a disguise; to masquerade as someone or something else.
- Bọn lừa đảo thường đội lốt nhân viên ngân hàng. (Scammers often masquerade as bank employees.)
Variants and Related Words
- Lá lốt (n): The leaf of the plant, used as a herb.
- Lá lốt thường được dùng để cuốn thịt bò. (Lá lốt leaves are often used to wrap beef.)
Synonyms
- Skin / Slough: for the shed outer layer.
- Disguise / Mask / Guise: for the false appearance.
- Trace / Imprint: for the mark left behind.
- Herb / Leaf: in the botanical context (specifically for ).
Related Idioms
- "Lột xác" (lit. to shed skin): To transform or reinvent oneself completely.
- Sau khóa học, anh ấy như lột xác. (After the course, he was like a transformed person.)