bập bềnh

Thân thiện

Một khúc gỗ trôi bập bềnh trên mặt sông.

Definition

1. Verb:

   • To bob: To move up and down gently and repeatedly on the surface of water.
   • To float (drifting): To rest or move slowly on the surface of a liquid without a fixed direction or anchor.

2. Adverb:

   • Bobbingly / Driftingly: Describes the manner of moving up and down or floating aimlessly on water.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Chiếc thuyền bập bềnh trên sông. (The boat was bobbing on the river.)
  • Những cánh hoa bập bềnh trên mặt hồ. (Petals were floating/drifting on the lake's surface.)
• Adverb:
  • Tấm ván trôi bập bềnh mặt nước. (The plank floated driftingly on the water's surface.)

Advanced Usage

• "bập bà bập bềnh": This is a reduplicated form for emphasis, meaning to bob or float unceasingly, often with a stronger sense of being adrift or unsettled.
  • Con thuyền nhỏ bập bà bập bềnh giữa biển khơi. (The small boat bobbed unceasingly in the open sea.)

Variants and Related Words

• Trôi bồng bềnh (v): To float or drift gently and lightly, often with a poetic connotation.
• Chập chờn (v): To flicker; to be unsteady or wavering (often for light or sleep, sharing the sense of unsteady movement).

Synonyms

• Bob: To move up and down.
• Float: To be buoyant on liquid.
• Drift: To be carried slowly by water or air.

Related Idioms and Expressions

• Nửa mạn phong ba, luống bập bềnh: A classical literary phrase describing a state of being tossed about and unsettled, like a boat in rough seas, often used metaphorically for a precarious life situation.
  • Cuộc đời anh ấy như con thuyền nửa mạn phong ba, luống bập bềnh. (His life is like a boat side-on to the storm, endlessly tossed about.)

Học thuật

verb

1. To bob
   • chiếc thuyền bập bềnh trên sông
     the boat was bobbing on the river
   • bập bà bập bềnh
     to bob unceasingly