Definition

1. Verb:
   • To feel the pulse: The primary meaning is the medical act of checking a patient's pulse by placing fingers on the wrist or another artery to assess health.
   • To gauge, to probe, to sound out: A figurative meaning used to describe the act of carefully assessing or understanding the state, strength, or dynamics of a situation, trend, or group.

Usage Examples

• Verb (Literal - Medical):

  • Bác sĩ đang bắt mạch cho bệnh nhân. (The doctor is feeling the patient's pulse.)
  • Ông thầy lang già kinh nghiệm bắt mạch rất giỏi. (The experienced herbalist is very skilled at feeling the pulse.)

• Verb (Figurative):

  • Nhà lãnh đạo cần biết bắt mạch dư luận. (A leader needs to know how to gauge public opinion.)
  • Chúng tôi phải bắt mạch thị trường trước khi ra mắt sản phẩm mới. (We must probe the market before launching the new product.)

Advanced Usage

• "bắt mạch tình hình": to sound out the situation; to take the pulse of a situation.

  • Phóng viên đi bắt mạch tình hình tại địa phương. (The reporter went to sound out the local situation.)

• "bắt mạch được": to have successfully gauged/understood.

  • Tôi chưa bắt mạch được ý định thực sự của anh ta. (I haven't yet managed to gauge his true intentions.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bắt mạch is a compound verb. Its core components are:
  • Bắt (verb): to catch, to seize.
  • Mạch (noun): pulse; vein; trend; circuit.
• Chẩn mạch (verb): A more formal or technical synonym in traditional medicine, also meaning to examine by feeling the pulse.
• Bắt bệnh (verb): to diagnose (literally "to catch the illness"), often used alongside or in a broader sense than .

Synonyms

• Cảm nhận (verb): to perceive, to feel. (Less technical, more general.)
• Đánh giá (verb): to assess, to evaluate. (Broader in scope.)
• Thăm dò (verb): to probe, to explore, to sound out. (Closest synonym for the figurative sense.)

Related Phrases (Collocations)

• Bắt mạch kê đơn: to feel the pulse and prescribe medicine (describing the complete diagnostic act in traditional medicine).

  • Thầy thuốc Đông y bắt mạch kê đơn rất cẩn thận. (The traditional medicine practitioner feels the pulse and prescribes medicine very carefully.)

• Bắt mạch xã hội: to take the pulse of society.

  • Các cuộc khảo sát giúp bắt mạch xã hội. (Surveys help to take the pulse of society.)

Related Idioms

While bắt mạch itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, its figurative use is idiomatic. A related concept is: - Nắm được mạch (của ai/cái gì): to have grasped the pulse (of someone/something); to understand the core trend or driving force. - Anh ấy nắm được mạch suy nghĩ của đối thủ. (He has grasped the pulse of his opponent's thinking.)

verb

1. To feel the pulse
   • thầy thuốc bắt mạch
     the physician feels the patient's pulse
   • bắt mạch đúng chỗ mạnh chỗ yếu của một phong trào
     to feel the pulse of a movement and detect its strong and weak points