Definition

1. Noun:
   • Tiger's den: The literal meaning refers to the lair or dwelling place of a tiger.
   • Dangerous place: A metaphorical and common figurative meaning, describing a location or situation that is extremely perilous, threatening, or associated with dangerous individuals.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Nơi đó là hang hùm, đừng nên đến gần. (That place is a tiger's den; you shouldn't go near.)
  • Hắn dám một mình vào hang hùm. (He dared to enter the tiger's den alone.)
  • Khu phố ấy bị coi là một hang hùm của xã hội đen. (That neighborhood is considered a dangerous den of gangsters.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is almost exclusively used in a figurative sense to convey high risk or threat. It implies that entering such a place requires great courage or foolhardiness.
• It is a key component in the Vietnamese idiom "vào hang hùm bắt cọp con" (to go into the tiger's den to catch a cub), which is equivalent to the English idiom "to beard the lion in his den."

Variants and Related Words

• Hang ổ (n): A den or lair; often used similarly to describe a hideout for criminals or a dangerous place.
  • Cảnh sát đột kích vào hang ổ của bọn buôn người. (The police raided the traffickers' den.)

Synonyms

• Lair: A wild animal's resting place.
• Den of iniquity: A place notorious for vice or crime.
• Hotbed: A place where something (typically undesirable) flourishes.
• Lion's den: The direct conceptual equivalent in English.

Related Idioms

• Vào hang hùm bắt cọp con / Vào hang cọp bắt cọp con:
  • Meaning: To beard the lion in his den; to confront a powerful person or danger in their own stronghold.
  • Muốn đàm phán, ông ta phải vào hang hùm bắt cọp con. (To negotiate, he had to beard the lion in his den.)

1. Tiger's den
   • dám vào hang hùm bắt cọp con
     To dare go into the tiger's den to catch his cubs, tobeard the lion in his den
2. Dangerous place