Definition

1. Noun:
   • Estuary, river mouth: The place where a river flows into a sea or ocean, often characterized by a widening of the river channel and the mixing of fresh and salt water.
   • Bay inlet, harbor entrance: A narrow opening or passage from the sea into a bay, harbor, or coastal lagoon.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Thành phố nằm ngay cửa bể. (The city is located right at the river mouth.)
  • Tàu thuyền ra vào qua cửa bể. (Ships enter and exit through the harbor entrance.)
  • Vùng cửa bể có hệ sinh thái rất đa dạng. (The estuary area has a very diverse ecosystem.)

Advanced Usage

• "cửa bể bến sông": A poetic or literary phrase referring to various waterways, ports, and places of transit, often evoking a sense of travel, separation, or longing.
  • Thương nhau qua cửa bể bến sông. (To miss each other across distant rivers and seas.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cửa biển (n): A more common and general synonym for "cửa bể," meaning sea mouth, estuary, or harbor entrance.
• Cửa sông (n): River mouth; specifically where a river meets the sea.
• Estuary (n): The tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream.
• Inlet (n): A small arm of the sea, a lake, or a river.

Synonyms

• Cửa biển: Sea mouth, harbor.
• Vịnh nhỏ: Small bay, cove.
• Lạch: Tidal creek, channel.

Notes on Usage

• "Cửa bể" is a somewhat literary or traditional term. In modern, everyday Vietnamese, "cửa biển" is more frequently used.
• It primarily refers to a geographical feature and is not typically used in idiomatic expressions beyond fixed poetic phrases like "cửa bể bến sông."