Definitions

1. Noun:
   • Cloth, fabric, textile: A material produced by weaving, knitting, or felting fibers, typically used for making garments, linens, or other items.
   • Litchi, lychee: A tropical fruit tree (Litchi chinensis) or its fruit, which has a rough, reddish-brown shell and sweet, translucent white flesh surrounding a single seed.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Cloth):
  • Cô ấy mua một mét vải cotton để may áo. (She bought one meter of cotton cloth to sew a shirt.)
  • Loại vải này rất mềm và thoáng mát. (This type of fabric is very soft and breathable.)
• Noun (Litchi):
  • Mùa hè là mùa của vải thiều. (Summer is the season for Thieu litchis.)
  • Quả vải có vỏ sần sùi màu đỏ. (The lychee fruit has a rough, red shell.)

Advanced Usage

• "vải vóc": A general term for fabrics and textiles, often used to refer to cloth as a commodity or material.
  • Cửa hàng này bán đủ loại vải vóc. (This store sells all kinds of fabrics and textiles.)
• "áo vải": Literally "cloth shirt," often used to describe simple, humble clothing made of plain fabric.
  • Người nông dân mặc bộ áo vải giản dị. (The farmer wore a simple set of homespun clothes.)

Variants and Related Words

• Vải thiều (n): A specific, highly prized cultivar of litchi, known for its small seed and sweet flesh.
  • Vải thiều Hưng Yên nổi tiếng khắp cả nước. (Hung Yen Thieu litchis are famous throughout the country.)
• Vải cotton (n): Cotton fabric.
• Vải lụa (n): Silk fabric.
• Vải lanh (n): Linen fabric.
• Vải thô (n): Coarse fabric, raw/unbleached fabric.

Synonyms

• For "cloth": (fabrics), (felt), (wool as a fabric).
• For "litchi": (an older Sino-Vietnamese term for litchi).

Related Idioms

• "Vải thưa che mắt thánh": Literally "thin cloth cannot cover the eyes of a saint." It means a flimsy excuse or a poor deception cannot fool a wise or perceptive person.
  • Anh đừng có nói dối, vải thưa che mắt thánh đâu. (Don't lie; a thin veil won't hide the truth from a discerning eye.)

noun

1. Cloth
2. Litchi
3. Vai Thieu (Thieu litchi) is a bit bigger than a longan. Unlike the skin of Longan which is rather smooth, the skin of litchi is rough with some ripples. The skin is dark red. The pulp of a litchi is transparently white, but is thicker than a longan. Therefore, litchi pulp is juicier than a longan. Litchi seed is also smaller than Longan seed. Thieu litchis are grown in many big orchards in Hung Yen province