Definition

1. Verb:

   • To winnow: To separate grain from chaff or light debris by tossing it in a flat basket or tray so that the wind blows the lighter material away.
   • To have or be affected by prickly heat: To suffer from a skin rash common in hot, humid weather, characterized by small, itchy red spots. (This meaning is derived from the noun form and is used descriptively).

2. Noun:

   • Prickly heat: A common term for miliaria, a skin condition causing a rash of small, itchy red bumps, often due to blocked sweat ducts in hot weather.

Usage Examples

• Verb (to winnow):

  • Bà ấy đang sảy thóc ngoài sân. (She is winnowing rice in the yard.)
  • Sảy cho sạch trấu rồi mới đem xay. (Winnow to remove all the husks before milling.)

• Noun/Descriptive (prickly heat):

  • Trẻ con dễ bị sảy vào mùa hè. (Children easily get prickly heat in the summer.)
  • Lưng bé nổi đầy sảy. (The child's back is covered in prickly heat.)

Advanced Usage

• "sảy ra": to winnow out; figuratively, to reveal or separate out.
  • Công việc này giúp sảy ra những ý kiến không thực tế. (This task helps to winnow out the impractical ideas.)

Variants and Related Words

• Sảy thóc (v): to winnow rice.
• Sảy gạo (v): to winnow rice (after husking).

Synonyms

• To winnow: to separate, to fan.
• Prickly heat: heat rash, miliaria.

Related Idioms

• Cái sảy nảy cái ung: Literally, "a tiny bit of chaff can lead to a big abscess." Figuratively, a small problem or neglect can lead to a major disaster; equivalent to "a little leak will sink a great ship" or "for want of a nail, the shoe was lost."
  • Đừng coi thường lỗi nhỏ, cái sảy nảy cái ung đấy. (Don't underestimate small mistakes; a small spark can start a great fire.)

1. (như rôm) Prickly heat
   • Mùa hè lắm sảy
     To have plenty of prickly heat in summer
   • Cái sảy nảy cái ung
     Little chips light great fires
   • Winnow (paddy...) by moving up and down a flat basket containing it)