Definition

1. Verb:
   • To entreat favors: To humbly and persistently ask for help, support, or special consideration from someone, often from a person in a position of power or influence. The action typically implies a degree of dependence, supplication, or loss of self-respect.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Anh ta phải đi cầu cạnh đủ mọi người để xin việc. (He had to entreat favors from everyone to ask for a job.)
  • Một người biết tự trọng sẽ không bao giờ cầu cạnh. (A self-respecting person never entreats favors.)
  • Cô ấy không thích cầu cạnh những người quyền thế. (She does not like to entreat favors from powerful people.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often carries a negative connotation, suggesting the action is undignified, servile, or done out of necessity to gain an unfair advantage or to solve a difficult problem.
• It describes a repeated or ongoing action of pleading, not a simple, one-time request.

Variants and Related Words

• Xin xỏ (v): To beg or plead for something. This is a close synonym but can be used in a broader range of contexts, not exclusively with powerful figures.
• Nài nỉ (v): To implore or plead insistently.
• Khẩn khoản (v): To entreat earnestly and respectfully.

Synonyms

• To beg a favor: To ask for a kindness humbly.
• To solicit: To seek to obtain something from someone, often formally.
• To supplicate: To ask or beg for something earnestly or humbly.

Related Idioms

• While "cầu cạnh" itself is typically used as a standalone verb, it conceptually relates to the idea of "quỵ luỵ" (to grovel or be servile) to achieve one's ends.
• The phrase "sống không cầu cạnh ai" (to live without entreating favors from anyone) is a common expression denoting independence and self-respect.

verb

1. To entreat favours of
   • người biết tự trọng không cầu cạnh
     a self-respecting person does not entreat favours of any