Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To physically restrain someone's hand or arm: To hold back or prevent someone's hand from moving or acting.
   • To stop or prevent someone from taking an action: To hinder or block someone from doing something, often forcefully or authoritatively.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Cảnh sát phải chặn tay tên cướp. (The police had to restrain the robber's hand.)
  • Anh ấy định đánh nhau, nhưng bạn bè đã kịp thời chặn tay lại. (He intended to fight, but his friends promptly stopped him.)
  • Không ai có thể chặn tay tiến bộ của khoa học. (No one can stop the progress of science.)

Advanced Usage

• "chặn tay" in a figurative/metaphorical sense: Used to describe preventing an abstract force, movement, or trend.
  • Chính sách mới nhằm chặn tay làn sóng đầu cơ. (The new policy aims to curb the wave of speculation.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chặn (verb): To block, to obstruct, to stop.
  • Chặn đường (to block the way)
  • Chặn đứng (to stop dead, to halt completely)
• Cản (verb): To prevent, to hinder.
  • Cản trở (to obstruct, to impede)

Synonyms

• Ngăn cản: To prevent, to hinder.
• Kìm hãm: To restrain, to hold back.
• Giữ lại: To hold back, to retain.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Chặn đứng: To stop dead, to bring to a complete halt.
  • Quân đội đã chặn đứng cuộc tấn công. (The army stopped the attack dead.)
• Chặn lại: To block/stop something.
  • Xin hãy chặn lại cái máy đó! (Please stop that machine!)

Related Idioms

• Chặn đầu chặn đuôi: To obstruct from start to finish; to block every possible way.
  • Họ chặn đầu chặn đuôi không cho dự án được thông qua. (They blocked the project from being approved at every turn.)
• Chặn tay chặn chân: To tie someone's hands and feet; to completely restrict someone's freedom of action.
  • Quy định rườm rà này chặn tay chặn chân các nhà kinh doanh. (These cumbersome regulations tie the hands and feet of businesspeople.)

1. To stay the hands of
   • chặn tay bọn hiếu chiến
     to stay the hands of the warmongers