Definition

1. Noun:

   • A hollow, cavity, or recess: A natural or man-made indentation, hole, or sunken area in a surface, such as in a tree, rock, or wall.
   • A socket or deep recess in the body: Specifically refers to a deep anatomical cavity, most commonly the eye socket.

2. Adjective:

   • (Of a face) Gaunt and sunken: Describes a face that is very thin and has deep hollows, especially under the cheeks or eyes.

3. Verb:

   • (Of a pig) To root or gobble food: To eat by thrusting the snout into food and taking large, greedy mouthfuls.
   • (Colloquial, vulgar) To gorge oneself; to eat gluttonously: To eat in a crude, voracious, and messy manner.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Con sóc nhảy vào hốc cây. (The squirrel jumped into the tree hollow.)
  • Anh ấy bị thâm quầng ở hốc mắt. (He has dark circles under his eye sockets.)

• Adjective:

  • Sau trận ốm, mặt anh ấy trông gầy hốc. (After the illness, his face looked gaunt and sunken.)

• Verb:

  • Con lợn đang hốc thức ăn trong máng. (The pig is gobbling food from the trough.)
  • Nó ngồi hốc hết một bát mì to. (He sat there and wolfed down a huge bowl of noodles.)

Advanced Usage

• "hốc hác": An intensified adjective form meaning extremely gaunt, haggard, and emaciated.

  • Gương mặt hốc hác vì thức đêm nhiều. (A face haggard from many sleepless nights.)

• "há hốc mồm / miệng": An idiom meaning "to be agape; to gape in astonishment."

  • Mọi người đều há hốc mồm kinh ngạc. (Everyone was gaping in amazement.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hốc hắt (adj.): A less common variant meaning gaunt and pitiful-looking.
• Hốc tử (n.): An archaic/literary term for a deep, dangerous pit or abyss.
• Hố (n.): A more general word for a hole, pit, or ditch. 'Hốc' often implies a smaller, recessed cavity within something.

Synonyms

• Lỗ hổng (n.): A gap, hole, or void.
• Hang (n.): A cave or den.
• Hõm (n., adj.): A hollow, depression; sunken.
• Gầy gò, teo tóp (adj.): Thin, emaciated (for the adjective sense).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Ăn hốc (v. phrase, vulgar): To eat like a pig; to shovel food in. This is a verb phrase combining 'ăn' (to eat) with the verb sense of 'hốc'.
  • Đừng có ăn hốc ăn hác như thế! (Don't eat like such a pig!)

Related Idioms

• Há hốc mồm ra: To be flabbergasted; to be so surprised one's mouth hangs open.
  • Nghe tin ấy, tôi há hốc mồm ra không nói được lời nào. (Hearing that news, I was flabbergasted and couldn't say a word.)
• Gầy hốc hác: To be skin and bones; to be terribly thin and worn.
  • Cô ấy gầy hốc hác sau chuyến đi dài. (She was skin and bones after the long journey.)

noun

1. hallow