Definition

1. Verb:

   • To color / to colour: The primary meaning of "tô màu" is the act of applying color to a surface, typically within outlined areas such as in a coloring book, a drawing, or a design. It implies filling spaces with color using tools like crayons, markers, or paints.

2. Verb (figurative):

   • To embellish / to add detail: In a metaphorical sense, "tô màu" can mean to enhance a story or description by adding vivid, often exaggerated, details.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Đứa trẻ đang tô màu cho bức tranh. (The child is coloring the picture.)
  • Cô ấy tô màu lên bản vẽ kiến trúc. (She is applying color to the architectural drawing.)
• Verb (figurative):
  • Anh ấy thích tô màu cho câu chuyện của mình. (He likes to embellish his stories.)

Advanced Usage

• "tô màu nước": to paint with watercolors.
  • Chúng tôi học cách tô màu nước trong lớp mỹ thuật. (We learned how to paint with watercolors in art class.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tô vẽ (v): to paint, to depict; often used more for artistic painting or figurative depiction.
  • Họa sĩ tô vẽ cảnh hoàng hôn. (The artist painted the sunset scene.)

Synonyms

• Color / Colour: to apply color.
• Fill in: to add color to a defined area.
• Paint: to apply a liquid color with a brush.

Related Idioms

• Tô hồng: to paint a rosy picture; to describe something in an overly optimistic or idealized way.

  • Bài báo đó đã tô hồng thực trạng kinh tế. (That article painted a rosy picture of the economic situation.)

• Tô đen: to blacken; to defame or portray something negatively.

  • Đối thủ chính trị cố tình tô đen danh tiếng của ông ấy. (His political opponent deliberately tried to blacken his reputation.)