Definition

1. Verb:
   • To scoop, to ladle: To take out a liquid, semi-liquid, or a mixture of liquid and solid using a utensil like a ladle, dipper, or spoon.
   • To bail: To remove water from a vessel or a flooded area, often using a container.

Usage

• Múc is a transitive verb. It describes the action of transferring a substance from one container to another using a scooping tool.
• It is commonly used with objects like soup, water, porridge, sauce, or rice.
• The action typically involves a ladle (), spoon (), dipper (), or bowl ().

Usage Examples

• Múc canh vào bát cho khách.
  • Ladle soup into the bowl for the guest.
• Anh ấy dùng gáo để múc nước mưa trong thùng.
  • He used a dipper to scoop rainwater out of the barrel.
• Chị múc cho em một bát cháo nóng nhé.
  • Could you scoop me a bowl of hot porridge, please?
• Họ phải múc nước ra khỏi thuyền sau cơn bão.
  • They had to bail water out of the boat after the storm.

Advanced Usage

• "Múc ra": To scoop out. Emphasizes the action of removing something from a container.
  • Múc cơm ra đĩa. (Scoop the rice onto a plate.)
• "Múc lên": To scoop up. Emphasizes the lifting action.
  • Dùng vợt để múc cá lên. (Use a net to scoop the fish up.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hốt (v): To scoop up quickly, often with hands or a shovel-like motion (e.g., - to scoop sand).
• Xúc (v): To shovel, to scoop with a shovel or similar broad tool (e.g., - to shovel coal). Often used for drier, granular materials.
• Vớt (v): To scoop out from a liquid, to salvage; often implies fishing or retrieving something submerged (e.g., - to retrieve a ball from water).
• Muôi (n): Ladle (the tool used for ).

Synonyms

• Ladle out: To serve using a ladle.
• Dish out: To serve food, often from a large container.
• Bail out: To remove water from a boat.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Múc đi múc lại: To scoop repeatedly. Can imply indecisiveness or doing something over and over.
  • Đừng múc đi múc lại món ăn trong đĩa chung. (Don't keep scooping the food from the shared plate repeatedly.)
• Múc trộm: To secretly scoop/take some (often food).
  • Đứa trẻ múc trộm một ít đường trong lọ. (The child secretly scooped some sugar from the jar.)

Related Idioms

• Múc nước bằng rổ: Literally "to scoop water with a basket". Means to do something futile, a wasted effort.
  • Làm việc đó chẳng khác nào múc nước bằng rổ. (Doing that is like trying to scoop water with a basket.)
• Múc của người khác: Literally "to scoop from others". Means to take credit for someone else's work or ideas.
  • Anh ta chỉ giỏi múc của người khác rồi nói là của mình. (He's only good at taking others' ideas and claiming them as his own.)

1. Scoop, ladle soup out into bowls
   • Múc nước trong thùng ra chậu
     To scoop water out of a bucket into a basin