Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Spiral: Having a continuous and gradually widening or tightening circular curve around a central point, like the shape of a coiled spring or a snail shell.
   • Helical: Having the three-dimensional shape of a helix, like a corkscrew or a spiral staircase.

2. Noun:

   • A spiral: The shape or form itself, characterized by a curve that winds around a fixed center point while moving progressively farther from or closer to it.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cầu thang xoắn ốc rất đẹp. (The spiral staircase is very beautiful.)
  • Những làn khói bốc lên theo hình xoắn ốc. (The wisps of smoke rose in a spiral shape.)
• Noun:
  • Vỏ ốc có dạng xoắn ốc. (The snail shell has a spiral form.)
  • Họa tiết xoắn ốc thường thấy trong nghệ thuật. (Spiral patterns are common in art.)

Advanced Usage

• "Lực xoắn ốc": In mechanics, this can refer to a torsional or helical force.

  • Lực xoắn ốc làm hỏng trục. (The torsional force damaged the axle.)

• "Phát triển theo hình xoắn ốc": A metaphorical use describing development that is cyclical but progressive, moving forward through recurring phases.

  • Tri thức phát triển theo hình xoắn ốc. (Knowledge develops in a spiral.)

Variants and Related Words

• Xoắn (v): to twist, to coil.

  • Sợi dây bị xoắn lại. (The string got twisted.)

• Ốc (n): snail; also used colloquially for screw.

  • Con ốc sên. (The snail.)

Synonyms

• Spiral: coil, helix, whorl, volute.
• Helical: corkscrew, winding, coiled.

Related Idioms

• "Xoắn như lò xo": To be as twisted as a spring; figuratively meaning to be very anxious, tense, or worried.

  • Chờ kết quả, lòng tôi xoắn như lò xo. (Waiting for the results, I was as tense as a spring.)

• "Đi vào vòng xoắn ốc": To enter a vicious spiral/circle; describing a situation that deteriorates in a self-reinforcing, negative cycle.

  • Nợ nần đẩy họ vào vòng xoắn ốc khó thoát. (Debt pushed them into a vicious spiral that was hard to escape.)