chôn sống

Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To bury alive: The act of placing a living person or creature underground, typically as a form of execution, punishment, or sacrifice, resulting in death by suffocation or entombment.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Kẻ thù tàn ác đã chôn sống các tù binh. (The cruel enemy buried the prisoners alive.)
  • Trong một số câu chuyện cổ, phù thủy bị chôn sống. (In some old tales, witches were buried alive.)
  • Đừng chôn sống con rùa đó! (Don't bury that turtle alive!)

Advanced Usage

• This phrase is almost exclusively used in a literal, horrific context. It can be employed metaphorically in literature or speech to describe a feeling of being utterly trapped, overwhelmed, or suffocated by circumstances.
  • Công việc này cảm giác như đang bị chôn sống dưới đống giấy tờ. (This job feels like being buried alive under paperwork.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chôn cất (v): to bury, to inter (refers to the standard burial of the deceased).
• Sống chết (phrase): life and death; a desperate situation.

Synonyms

• To inter alive: A more formal term for the same act.
• To immure: To entomb within walls, which is a closely related concept of being enclosed while alive.

Related Idioms

• While "chôn sống" itself is a stark phrase, it is sometimes referenced in Vietnamese idioms about severe punishment or inescapable fate, such as "tội đáng chôn sống" (a crime deserving of being buried alive).