Definition

Verb: - To clench one's teeth: To press one's teeth together tightly, often as a physical reaction to pain or a strong emotion. - To endure in silence / To grin and bear it: To tolerate a difficult, painful, or unpleasant situation without complaining or showing outward distress.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Anh ấy phải cắn răng chịu đựng cơn đau sau ca phẫu thuật. (He had to clench his teeth and endure the pain after the surgery.)
  • Dù bị đối xử bất công, cô ấy vẫn cắn răng mà làm việc. (Even though treated unfairly, she still grinned and bore it and kept working.)
  • Trong hoàn cảnh khó khăn, chúng tôi chỉ biết cắn răng vượt qua. (In difficult circumstances, we only knew how to endure in silence and get through it.)

Advanced Usage

• "cắn răng chịu đựng": To endure/suffer through something by gritting one's teeth. This is a very common collocation that emphasizes silent endurance.
  • Không có lựa chọn nào khác, anh ta đành cắn răng chịu đựng sự nhục nhã. (Having no other choice, he had to grit his teeth and endure the humiliation.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nghiến răng (verb): To grind one's teeth. This can be a more intense, audible action, often due to anger, pain, or during sleep, whereas "cắn răng" focuses more on the act of clenching as a form of endurance.
• Chịu đựng (verb): To endure, to bear, to tolerate. This is the general verb for endurance that is often paired with "cắn răng".
• Nhẫn nhịn (verb): To be patient, to forbear. This implies a more passive, long-term patience, while "cắn răng" often describes a specific act of enduring a sharp pain or hardship.

Synonyms

• Kiên nhẫn chịu đựng: To patiently endure.
• Cam chịu: To resign oneself to, to accept (a negative situation) passively.
• Nhịn: To hold back, to suppress (a feeling like anger or pain).

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Nuốt hận cắn răng": To swallow one's resentment and clench one's teeth. This idiom combines "cắn răng" with "nuốt hận" (to swallow resentment), describing the act of silently bearing a great injustice or humiliation.
  • Vì gia đình, bà ấy đã nuốt hận cắn răng suốt bao nhiêu năm. (For the sake of her family, she swallowed her resentment and endured in silence for so many years.)
• "Cắn răng cắn cỏ": (A less common, more literary variant) To endure extreme hardship with great determination, suggesting a struggle for survival.

verb

1. To clench one's teeth
   • cắn răng mà chịu
     to endure in silence