chôn vùi
Definition
- Verb:
- To bury deeply; to entomb: The primary meaning of "chôn vùi" is to bury something or someone under a large amount of earth or debris, completely covering and concealing it.
- To engulf; to overwhelm (figurative): It is commonly used metaphorically to describe a state of being completely overwhelmed, consumed, or lost in something, such as emotions, work, or misfortune.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Cơn lở đất đã chôn vùi ngôi làng. (The landslide buried the village.)
- Cô ấy chôn vùi bản thân trong công việc để quên đi nỗi buồn. (She buries herself in work to forget her sadness.)
- Uy thế của không lực địch đã bị chôn vùi. (The prestige of the enemy air force was buried/obliterated.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase often implies a sense of finality, obscurity, or being lost, whether in a physical or abstract sense. It suggests a state from which recovery or emergence is difficult.
Variants and Related Words
Chôn (v): to bury (the base verb, without the connotation of being deeply overwhelmed).
- Họ chôn chiếc hộp trong vườn. (They buried the box in the garden.)
Vùi (v): to cover, to pile on (often used with "chôn" for emphasis).
- Lá khô vùi lấp lối đi. (Dry leaves covered the path.)
Synonyms
- Bury: to place in the ground and cover.
- Entomb: to place in a tomb; to serve as a tomb for.
- Engulf: to sweep over something so as to surround or cover it completely.
- Overwhelm: to bury beneath a huge mass.
Related Idioms
Chôn vùi tuổi thanh xuân: to bury one's youth (to spend one's youth in obscurity or difficult circumstances).
- Anh ấy cảm thấy mình đã chôn vùi tuổi thanh xuân trong nhà máy. (He felt he had buried his youth in the factory.)
Chôn vùi quá khứ: to bury the past (to try to forget or hide past events completely).
- Cô ấy muốn chôn vùi quá khứ đau buồn. (She wants to bury the painful past.)