Definition

1. Verb:
   • To gather / To collect: To bring together scattered items, often in small quantities or from various sources, into one place or group. It implies a careful, often gradual, process of accumulation.
   • To glean: To collect information, knowledge, or material bit by bit, often from various sources.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Cô ấy thích thu nhặt những viên đá cuội trên bãi biển. (She likes to collect pebbles on the beach.)
  • Nhà nghiên cứu đã thu nhặt dữ liệu từ nhiều thư viện khác nhau. (The researcher gathered data from many different libraries.)
  • Trẻ em thu nhặt củi khô để nhóm lửa trại. (The children gathered dry firewood to build a campfire.)

Advanced Usage

• The verb often implies the collected items are scattered, not abundant, or require effort to find and assemble. It is commonly used for abstract concepts like information, experiences, or evidence.
  • Anh ấy thu nhặt kinh nghiệm sau mỗi chuyến đi. (He gathers experience after each trip.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thu thập (v): To collect, to gather. This is a more common and formal synonym, often used interchangeably with "thu nhặt," but "thu thập" can imply a more systematic or comprehensive collection.
  • Thu thập ý kiến (To collect opinions).

Synonyms

• Collect: To bring items together.
• Gather: To come or bring together.
• Glean: To collect gradually and laboriously.

Related Idioms

• While "thu nhặt" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, its meaning is central to phrases describing careful accumulation.
  • Thu nhặt từng chút một: To gather little by little, bit by bit.

    • Họ xây dựng công ty bằng cách thu nhặt từng chút một. (They built the company by gathering resources bit by bit.)