Definitions

1. Adjective:

   • Slanting, oblique, diagonal: Describes something that is not vertical or horizontal, but at an angle.
   • Askew, tilted: Describes something that is not straight or upright.

2. Verb:

   • To skewer, to pierce: To push a long, thin, pointed object through something.
   • To impale: To pierce with a sharp stake or point.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Ánh nắng xiên qua khe cửa. (The slanting sunlight came through the door crack.)
  • Cây cột bị xiên sau cơn bão. (The post was tilted after the storm.)

• Verb:

  • Chị ấy xiên những miếng thịt để nướng. (She skewered the pieces of meat for grilling.)
  • Người ta dùng lao để xiên cá. (People use spears to impale fish.)

Advanced Usage

• "xiên xẹo": Crooked, zigzagging, not straight in a messy or irregular way.

  • Đường vào làng nhỏ xiên xẹo. (The path into the village is crooked.)

• "nói xiên": To speak indirectly, to insinuate, to make a sarcastic or oblique remark.

  • Anh ta không nói thẳng mà cứ nói xiên. (He doesn't speak directly but keeps making insinuations.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cái xiên (Noun): A skewer (e.g., for food).

  • Một xiên thịt nướng. (A skewer of grilled meat.)

• Xiên chiêng (Adjective/Adverb): An idiom meaning "indirectly," often used in the context of speaking.

  • Nói xiên chiêng cho người khác hiểu. (To speak indirectly for others to understand.)

Synonyms

• Adjective: Chéo (diagonal), chếch (slanted), nghiêng (leaning, inclined).
• Verb: Đâm (to stab), xuyên (to pierce through), cắm (to stick into).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Xiên qua: To pierce through, to skewer through.
  • Mũi tên xiên qua tấm khiên. (The arrow pierced through the shield.)

Related Idioms

• "Nói như xiên đâm": To speak in a very sharp, hurtful, or piercing manner.

  • Lời của cô ấy nói ra như xiên đâm. (Her words were like a piercing skewer.)

• "Đi đường xiên": To take a diagonal or shortcut path; can metaphorically mean to take an indirect or dishonest approach.

  • Hắn ta thích đi đường xiên trong công việc. (He likes to take shady shortcuts in his work.)

adj

1. slanting, oblique