cửa bể
Definition
- Noun:
- Estuary, river mouth: The place where a river flows into a sea or ocean, often characterized by a widening of the river channel and the mixing of fresh and salt water.
- Bay inlet, harbor entrance: A narrow opening or passage from the sea into a bay, harbor, or coastal lagoon.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Thành phố nằm ngay cửa bể. (The city is located right at the river mouth.)
- Tàu thuyền ra vào qua cửa bể. (Ships enter and exit through the harbor entrance.)
- Vùng cửa bể có hệ sinh thái rất đa dạng. (The estuary area has a very diverse ecosystem.)
Advanced Usage
- "cửa bể bến sông": A poetic or literary phrase referring to various waterways, ports, and places of transit, often evoking a sense of travel, separation, or longing.
- Thương nhau qua cửa bể bến sông. (To miss each other across distant rivers and seas.)
Variants and Related Words
- Cửa biển (n): A more common and general synonym for "cửa bể," meaning sea mouth, estuary, or harbor entrance.
- Cửa sông (n): River mouth; specifically where a river meets the sea.
- Estuary (n): The tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream.
- Inlet (n): A small arm of the sea, a lake, or a river.
Synonyms
- Cửa biển: Sea mouth, harbor.
- Vịnh nhỏ: Small bay, cove.
- Lạch: Tidal creek, channel.
Notes on Usage
- "Cửa bể" is a somewhat literary or traditional term. In modern, everyday Vietnamese, "cửa biển" is more frequently used.
- It primarily refers to a geographical feature and is not typically used in idiomatic expressions beyond fixed poetic phrases like "cửa bể bến sông."