Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To drool, to dribble: To have saliva flow uncontrollably from the mouth, often due to a lack of swallowing, especially in babies or when thinking about delicious food.
   • To have one's mouth water: To salivate excessively due to strong desire or craving for something, typically appetizing food.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Em bé đang mọc răng nên hay nhỏ dãi. (The baby is teething so he often drools.)
  • Nhìn món bánh đó ngon quá, tôi thèm nhỏ dãi. (Looking at that delicious cake makes my mouth water.)

Advanced Usage

• "Thèm nhỏ dãi": This is a common and intensified collocation meaning "to crave something so much that one drools" or "to have one's mouth watering."
  • Ngửi mùi thịt nướng từ xa khiến anh ấy thèm nhỏ dãi. (Smelling the barbecue from afar made his mouth water.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chảy nước dãi / Chảy nước miếng (verb phrase): To drool. These are more common, neutral synonyms for the physical act.
  • Con chó chảy nước dãi khi thấy thức ăn. (The dog drooled when it saw the food.)
• Thèm thuồng (verb): To crave, to desire intensely. It shares the sense of "thèm" (to crave) but without the imagery of drooling.
• Rỏ dãi (verb phrase): An older or less common variant spelling of "nhỏ dãi."

Synonyms

• Chảy nước bọt (verb phrase): To salivate. This is a more formal or biological term.
• Thèm rỏ rãi (verb phrase): A synonymous, emphatic expression for craving (similar to "thèm nhỏ dãi").

Related Idioms

• "Thèm chảy nước miếng": An idiom with the same meaning as "thèm nhỏ dãi," literally "to crave until saliva flows."
  • Câu chuyện về chuyến du lịch của cô ấy khiến tôi thèm chảy nước miếng. (Her story about the trip made my mouth water.)

1. Thèm nhỏ dãi
2. To have one's mouth watering