How do you say “sharpen” in Vietnamese?

“Sharpen” in Vietnamese is mài (to grind), vót (to whittle).

Vietnamese words for “sharpen”

• màiListenverb
  Hanoi [maːj˨˩] · Saigon [maːj˨˩]mài falling

  to grind

  for “sharpen” meaning: To make sharp.

  • Anh ấy lúc đó đang mài dao.He was sharpening a knife.
• vótListenverb
  Hanoi [vɔt̚˧˦] · Saigon [vɔk̚˦˥]vót rising

  to whittle

  for “sharpen” meaning: To make sharp.

Related Vietnamese words

• gọtListenverb

  to peel; to sharpen

• tuốtListenverb

  to unsheathe; to detach

Translations matched from English Wiktionary (translation tables and Vietnamese entries, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0) and the NgonNgu English–Vietnamese dictionary, reviewed and edited; examples from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice.