xác ve

Một con ve sầu để lại xác ve trên thân cây.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Cicada shell / exuvia: The empty, brittle exoskeleton (moulted skin) left behind by a cicada nymph after it emerges as an adult insect.
   • Metaphor for extreme thinness: A common simile describing a person who is emaciated, gaunt, or skin-and-bones, evoking the hollow, fragile appearance of a cicada shell.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Literal):

  • Trên thân cây còn dính một cái xác ve. (A cicada shell is still stuck to the tree trunk.)
  • Bọn trẻ nhặt xác ve để chơi. (The children collect cicada shells to play with.)

• Noun (Figurative):

  • Sau trận ốm, anh ấy gầy như xác ve. (After the illness, he became as thin as a cicada shell.)
  • Cô ấy tự nhiên gầy đi, người như xác ve. (She suddenly lost weight and became as gaunt as a cicada shell.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase "gầy như xác ve" (thin as a cicada shell) is a fixed simile. It is more common than using the noun alone to describe thinness.
  • Cụ ông ốm nặng, giờ chỉ còn da bọc xương, gầy như xác ve. (The old man was seriously ill; now he's just skin and bones, as thin as a cicada shell.)

Variants and Related Words

• Xác (n): corpse, body, shell, remains.
• Ve (n): cicada.
• Lột xác (v): to moult; metaphorically, to transform or reinvent oneself.

Synonyms

• Exuvia: (technical) the shed skin of an arthropod.
• Emaciated: (for the metaphor) abnormally thin or weak.
• Gaunt: lean and haggard in appearance.

Related Idioms

• Gầy như xác ve: (Idiomatic simile) As thin as a cicada shell; extremely thin and frail.
  • Làm việc vất vả cả tháng, anh ta gầy như xác ve. (Working hard for a whole month, he became as thin as a cicada shell.)