xắp

Mẹ cắt xắp những miếng dưa hấu để bày lên đĩa.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Reaching a certain level: Describing something, typically a liquid, that reaches up to a specific point or height.
   • Intermittent or irregular: Occurring at uneven intervals; not regular or steady. (This usage is noted as rare).

2. Verb:

   • To cut or slice: To divide something, especially food, into pieces with a sharp tool.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Nước xắp mắt cá. (The water reaches ankle-deep.)
  • Công việc làm xắp. (The work is irregular.)

• Verb:

  • Xắp giò. (To slice the pork pie.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is very rarely used in modern Vietnamese on its own. Its primary contemporary function is within the reduplicated form "xăm xắp".
• "xăm xắp" (adjective): barely reaching; just level with.
  • Nước xăm xắp miệng nồi. (The water is just level with the rim of the pot.)

Variants and Related Words

• Xăm xắp (adj): Reduplicated form meaning "just reaching," "barely level with," or "almost full."
• Xắt (v): A more common verb meaning "to slice" or "to chop finely," often seen as a variant or related form to the verbal meaning of "xắp."

Synonyms

• Reach: to extend to a specified point.
• Irregular: not even or continuous in pattern.
• Slice: to cut into pieces.

Notes on Usage

• The standalone word "xắp" is considered archaic or literary. Learners are most likely to encounter and should use the reduplicated form "xăm xắp" to describe something being nearly full or just reaching a level.
• The verbal meaning ("to cut") is also uncommon and largely supplanted by "xắt" or "cắt".