Definition

Verb: - To worry, to gnaw (at): To cause persistent mental distress or anxiety; to torment or trouble someone's mind. - To tear at each other, to fight viciously (often figuratively): To engage in intense conflict, backbiting, or infighting, typically over competition for resources, power, or advantage.

Usage Examples

• Literal/Figurative (Mental Distress):

  • Lương tâm anh ấy cắn xé anh suốt đêm. (His conscience worried him all night.)
  • Nỗi lo về tương lai cứ cắn xé cô ấy. (Worries about the future kept gnawing at her.)

• Figurative (Conflict):

  • Hai công ty đối thủ liên tục cắn xé nhau trên thị trường. (The two rival companies constantly tear at each other in the market.)
  • Bọn chúng cắn xé nhau vì quyền lợi. (They are fighting viciously over interests.)

Advanced Usage

• "cắn xé lẫn nhau": To tear each other apart; to engage in mutual destruction or intense infighting.
  • Đám chó hoang cắn xé lẫn nhau vì miếng ăn. (The stray dogs tore at each other over a scrap of food.)
• Used to describe internal psychological torment or external, often ruthless, competition and conflict within a group.

Variants and Related Words

• Cắn (verb): To bite.
• Xé (verb): To tear, to rip.
• Giày vò (verb): To torment, to torture (often used together with for emphasis: ).

Synonyms

• Dày vò / Giày vò (verb): To torment, to torture (mentally).
• Gặm nhấm (verb): To gnaw at (figuratively, for worries).
• Chèn ép, tranh giành (verb): To oppress, to compete fiercely (for the conflict meaning).
• Xung đột (verb/noun): To conflict, conflict.

Related Idioms/Phrases

• Cắn xé nhau như chó đói: To fight like starving dogs (a vivid idiom for ruthless infighting).
• Bị lương tâm cắn xé: To be gnawed at by one's conscience (a common collocation).

verb

1. To worry, to gnaw
   • đàn chó sói cắn xé lẫn nhau
     the band of wolves worried one another
   • bị lương tâm giày vò cắn xé
     to be nagged at and worried by one's conscience