Definition

1. Noun:

   • A bird (a type of rail): "cuốc" refers to a specific type of waterbird, often a rail or crake, known for its distinctive call.
   • A hoe (a farming tool): "cuốc" is a common agricultural tool with a flat blade and a long handle, used for breaking up soil, weeding, or digging.

2. Verb:

   • To hoe: The action of using a hoe to work the soil, such as breaking, turning, or weeding.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Bird):
  • Tiếng chim cuốc kêu trong đêm. (The call of the cuốc bird at night.)
• Noun (Tool):
  • Anh ấy mua một cái cuốc mới. (He bought a new hoe.)
• Verb:
  • Bà tôi thường cuốc đất trong vườn. (My grandmother often hoes the soil in the garden.)
  • Chúng tôi phải cuốc cỏ quanh gốc cây. (We have to hoe the weeds around the tree roots.)

Advanced Usage

• "cuốc bộ": to go on foot, to walk (a long way). This is a compound phrase where "cuốc" takes on a colloquial, vigorous meaning related to moving one's legs.
  • Họ đã cuốc bộ hơn mười cây số. (They walked over ten kilometers.)
• "một cuốc": (colloquial) one trip/ride (e.g., in a taxi, motorbike taxi). This is a slang usage derived from the action of "going".
  • Đi một cuốc xe ôm về nhà. (Take one motorbike taxi ride home.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cuốc chim (n): Another term for the bird, specifying it as a bird.
• Cuốc đất (v phrase): To hoe the ground/soil. This is a common verb-object combination.
• Cái cuốc (n phrase): The hoe (tool). "Cái" is the common classifier for the tool.

Synonyms

• Cái mai (n): A spade or shovel (a different digging tool).
• Cái xẻng (n): A shovel (typically for moving loose material, not for chopping soil like a hoe).
• Chim sâm cầm (n): A different type of waterbird, sometimes confused with or related to the .

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Cuốc lên: To hoe upwards, to turn soil over.
  • Người nông dân cuốc lên những lớp đất mới. (The farmer hoes up new layers of soil.)
• Cuốc xới: To hoe and till; to work the land thoroughly.
  • Cuốc xới đất trước khi gieo hạt là rất quan trọng. (Hoeing and tilling the soil before sowing seeds is very important.)

Related Idioms

• Chân đi cuốc (literally "feet that walk/hoe"): Describes someone who walks a lot or is always on the move.
  • Làm nghề bán hàng rong, chân đi cuốc cả ngày. (Working as a street vendor, my feet are on the move all day.)
• Khỏe như cuốc (as strong as a hoe): An idiom praising someone's physical strength and endurance, akin to "strong as an ox".
  • Ông cụ già rồi nhưng vẫn khỏe như cuốc. (The old man is aged but still as strong as an ox.)

noun

1. Suamp hen

verb

1. to hoe
   • cuốc đất
     to hoe up ground