Definition

1. Noun:
   • Tiger: A large, powerful wild cat (Panthera tigris) with a yellow-orange coat and black stripes, native to Asia.
   • Figuratively, a fierce or formidable person: Used to describe someone who is very fierce, strict, or powerful.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trong rừng có một con cọp rất to. (There is a very large tiger in the forest.)
  • Ông hiệu trưởng trường tôi nghiêm khắc như một con cọp. (My school's principal is as strict as a tiger.)
  • Cọp là loài động vật ăn thịt đáng sợ. (The tiger is a fearsome carnivorous animal.)

Advanced Usage

• "cọp cái": Tigress (a female tiger).
  • Cọp cái thường đi săn để nuôi đàn con. (The tigress often hunts to feed her cubs.)
• "miệng cọp": Literally "tiger's mouth"; a very dangerous place or situation.
  • Vào hang ổ của bọn tội phạm như vào miệng cọp. (Entering the criminals' den is like entering a tiger's mouth.)
• "mặt cọp": Literally "tiger face"; a fierce or angry facial expression.
  • Anh ta nổi giận, mặt đỏ như mặt cọp. (He got angry, his face turned red like a tiger's face.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hổ: The more formal and scientific synonym for "cọp". "Cọp" is more common in Southern Vietnamese, while "hổ" is used nationwide and in formal contexts.
  • Hổ Đông Dương là một phân loài của hổ. (The Indochinese tiger is a subspecies of tiger.)
• Beo: Leopard or panther. (A different big cat, sometimes confused by learners).
• Sư tử: Lion.

Synonyms

• Hổ: Tiger (formal synonym).
• Kẻ hung dữ: Fierce person/creature (figurative).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• "Bắt cọp": Literally "to catch a tiger"; to undertake an extremely difficult or dangerous task.
  • Dự án này khó khăn, anh định bắt cọp à? (This project is difficult, are you trying to catch a tiger?)
• "Nuôi cọp trong nhà": Literally "to raise a tiger in the house"; to harbor a dangerous person or threat.
  • Tin tên phản bội ấy là nuôi cọp trong nhà. (Trusting that traitor is like raising a tiger in the house.)

Related Idioms

• "Cọp dữ không ăn thịt con": Literally "A fierce tiger does not eat its own cubs"; even the fiercest person has love for their own children.
  • Dù ông ấy rất nghiêm khắc, nhưng cọp dữ không ăn thịt con mà. (Although he is very strict, even a fierce tiger does not eat its own cubs.)
• "Hùm chết để da, người ta chết để tiếng": Literally "A tiger dies leaving its skin, a person dies leaving their reputation"; a person's legacy is their reputation. (Uses "hùm", a literary variant of "hổ/cọp").
• "Rước cọp về nhà": Similar to "nuôi cọp trong nhà"; to bring a disaster upon oneself.

noun

1. Tiger
   • cọp cái
     Tigress
2. con cọp