Definition

1. Verb:
   • To struggle violently, to writhe, to thrash about: "giãy giụa" describes the action of making strong, uncontrolled, and often desperate movements of the body, typically to try to free oneself from a restraint, a hold, or an unpleasant situation. It implies a state of intense physical struggle or agony.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Con cá bị mắc câu giãy giụa dữ dội. (The hooked fish thrashed about violently.)
  • Kẻ tội phạm giãy giụa trong vòng tay của cảnh sát. (The criminal struggled violently in the police officer's grip.)
  • Cô ấy giãy giụa trong cơn ác mộng. (She writhed in her nightmare.)

Advanced Usage

• "giãy giụa trong tuyệt vọng": to struggle/writhe in despair.

  • Nạn nhân giãy giụa trong tuyệt vọng trước khi ngất đi. (The victim writhed in despair before fainting.)

• "giãy giụa tìm lối thoát": to struggle frantically to find a way out.

  • Con chim nhỏ giãy giụa tìm lối thoát khỏi lồng. (The small bird struggled frantically to find a way out of the cage.)

Variants and Related Words

• Giãy (verb): to struggle, to jerk. This is the core verb, with "giãy giụa" being a more intensive and descriptive reduplicative form.

  • Đứa trẻ giãy đạp không chịu mặc quần áo. (The child kicked and struggled, refusing to get dressed.)

• Vùng vẫy (verb): to flounder, to struggle (often in water or against constraints). It is a close synonym but can imply a broader sense of flailing.

  • Nó vùng vẫy để ngoi lên mặt nước. (He floundered to get to the water's surface.)

Synonyms

• Vật vã: to toss and turn, to be in agony (often due to pain or illness, can be less physically violent than "giãy giụa").
• Chống cự: to resist, to fight back (more general, not necessarily involving writhing movements).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

Note: As "giãy giụa" is an intransitive verb in Vietnamese, it does not combine with objects to form phrasal verbs in the same way English verbs do. Its meaning is contained within the single word.

Related Idioms

• "như cá nằm trên thớt, giãy giụa cũng chết": (like a fish on the cutting board, struggling is futile). This idiom describes a hopeless situation where resistance is pointless.
  • Tình thế của họ như cá nằm trên thớt, giãy giụa cũng chết. (Their situation is hopeless; any struggle is futile.)

1. như giãy