Definition

1. Verb:
   • To gnaw at / to torment: Describes a persistent, nagging feeling of guilt, regret, or anxiety that troubles one's mind or conscience, as if something is biting or stinging from within.
   • To cause remorse / to prick (one's conscience): To induce a sense of moral unease or regret over a past action or inaction.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Lương tâm anh ấy cắn rứt vì lời nói dối. (His conscience was gnawing at him because of the lie.)
  • Cô ấy bị cắn rứt vì đã không giúp đỡ người bạn. (She was tormented for not helping her friend.)
  • Làm tròn trách nhiệm để khỏi bị cắn rứt. (Fulfill your responsibilities to avoid pangs of conscience.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is almost exclusively used to describe internal, psychological or moral distress, often related to one's conscience (). It is not used for physical biting.

Variants and Related Words

• Day dứt (v): To be troubled, to be tormented (by thoughts, guilt). This is a very close synonym.
  • Anh ấy day dứt mãi về quyết định đó. (He was tormented by that decision for a long time.)

Synonyms

• To gnaw at: To cause persistent worry.
• To torment: To cause severe mental or emotional suffering.
• To haunt: To cause continual distress (e.g., a memory).
• To prick one's conscience: To cause a sharp feeling of guilt.

Related Idioms

• Lương tâm cắn rứt: A guilty conscience; pangs of conscience.
  • Lương tâm cắn rứt không cho anh ta yên. (A guilty conscience gave him no peace.)

1. To worry, to harass, to sting
   • làm tròn trách nhiệm để lương tâm khỏi bị cắn rứt
     to discharge one's responsibility so that one's conscience will not be worried; to discharge one's responsibility to avoid qualms of conscience