Definition

1. Verb:
   • To crumple / to ball up: To crush or squeeze something, typically paper or fabric, into a compact, rounded mass using one's hands.
   • To wash (rice): To clean rice by rubbing the grains against each other with one's hands, usually in water, to remove husks, bran, or impurities before cooking.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Cậu bé vo tờ giấy thành một quả bóng. (The boy crumpled the paper into a ball.)
  • Trước khi nấu, bạn phải vo gạo cho sạch. (Before cooking, you must wash the rice clean.)

Advanced Usage

• The action of vo implies a specific, often vigorous, manual motion of rolling and pressing to form a shapeless mass or to clean granular items like rice.

Variants and Related Words

• Vo tròn (v): to crumple into a round ball.

  • Cô ấy vo tròn lá thư rồi ném đi. (She crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it away.)

• Vo gạo (v): the specific phrase for washing rice.

  • Công đoạn vo gạo rất quan trọng. (The step of washing rice is very important.)

Synonyms

• Crumple: to crush into a compact mass.
• Ball up: to form into a ball.
• Wash (rice): to clean by agitating in water (specific to grains).

Related Idioms

• Đời cha vo tròn, đời con bóp bẹp: A proverb meaning "A miserly father begets a spendthrift son" or "The father saves, the son wastes." It uses vo tròn (to ball up/tightly save) metaphorically for hoarding wealth.
  • Câu chuyện đó minh họa cho câu "đời cha vo tròn, đời con bóp bẹp". (That story illustrates the proverb "the father saves, the son wastes.")