Definition

1. Verb:
   • To rescue (from a siege, danger, or a difficult situation): To break through or take action to free someone or something from a state of confinement, encirclement, or peril.
   • To renege on a sale (because the market price has risen): To back out of a previously agreed-upon sale of goods, typically because the seller sees an opportunity for a higher profit elsewhere after the market price increases.

Usage Examples

• Verb (Rescue):

  • Quân đội đã tìm cách đánh tháo cho đồng đội bị vây. (The army tried to find a way to rescue their besieged comrades.)
  • Kế hoạch đánh tháo con tin đã thất bại. (The plan to rescue the hostages failed.)

• Verb (Renege on a sale):

  • Người bán đã đánh tháo lô hàng vì giá cả trên thị trường tăng mạnh. (The seller reneged on the shipment because the market price increased sharply.)
  • Hợp đồng đã ký, anh ta không thể tùy tiện đánh tháo. (The contract has been signed; he cannot arbitrarily back out of the sale.)

Advanced Usage

• "đánh tháo vòng vây": To break a siege/encirclement.

  • Chiến thuật này nhằm mục đích đánh tháo vòng vây. (This tactic aims to break the encirclement.)

• Used in economic/commercial contexts to describe unethical market behavior where a seller refuses to honor a prior agreement due to price fluctuations.

Variants and Related Words

• Giải vây (verb): To relieve a siege. (A close synonym for the military sense of "đánh tháo").
• Bội ước (verb): To break a promise/contract. (A general term for reneging, related to the commercial sense).
• Tháo chạy (verb): To flee, to run away. (Shares the root "tháo" implying a rapid exit from a situation).

Synonyms

• Giải cứu: To rescue, to save.
• Nuốt lời: To go back on one's word (common in commercial contexts).

Related Phrases (Collocations)

• Đánh tháo hàng: To renege on goods (a common commercial collocation).
• Đánh tháo cho ai: To rescue someone.

Notes on Meaning

• The word carries two distinct meanings based on context: a military/heroic action (rescue) and a commercial/negative action (reneging).
• The commercial usage often implies a breach of trust or contract for opportunistic gain.
• It is not a phrasal verb in the English sense but a compound verb in Vietnamese where "đánh" implies an active, often forceful action, and "tháo" implies untying, loosening, or extracting.

1. Rescue (from a siege, danger, difficultỵ.)
2. Renege on the sale of something (because its price has risen on the market)