Definition

1. Noun:

   • A hole; a pit: A deep and wide cavity or depression in the ground.
   • A grave; a tomb: A hole dug in the ground to bury a dead body.
   • (Military) A foxhole: A small pit dug for a soldier to take cover in.

2. Adjective (colloquial):

   • To be duped; to be tricked: The state of having been deceived or swindled.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Công nhân đang đào một cái hố lớn. (The workers are digging a large hole.)
  • Ngôi mộ cổ chỉ là một cái hố đơn sơ. (The ancient tomb is just a simple grave.)
  • Người lính ẩn nấp trong hố cá nhân. (The soldier hides in his foxhole.)

• Adjective:

  • Cậu ấy mua chiếc điện thoại giả với giá cắt cổ, bị hố rồi! (He bought a fake phone at an exorbitant price, he got duped!)

Advanced Usage

• "hố bom": bomb crater.

  • Cánh đồng sau trận oanh tạc chi chít những hố bom. (The field was riddled with bomb craters after the air raid.)

• "hố ga": manhole (for sewer access).

  • Đậy nắp hố ga cẩn thận để tránh tai nạn. (Cover the manhole carefully to avoid accidents.)

• "hố tử thần": death pit; a pit associated with danger or mass death.

  • Địa đạo có nhiều hố tử thần nguy hiểm. (The tunnel has many dangerous death pits.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hốc (noun): A nook, cranny, or hollow (often in a rock or wall). (The bird made a nest in the tree hollow.)
• Hố huyệt (noun): Grave; burial pit (literary/formal). (The grave has been dug ready.)
• Hầm hố (adjective): Fierce-looking; grimacing. (He looks fierce when angry.)

Synonyms

• Lỗ (noun): Hole (generally smaller or less deep than "hố"). (The nail made a small hole in the wall.)
• Mộ (noun): Grave; tomb (more formal/respectful than "hố" for burial). (To visit ancestors' graves.)
• Hầm (noun): Bunker; shelter; cellar (an enclosed underground space). (A shelter/bunker.)

Related Phrases (Compound Nouns)

• Hố đen (noun): Black hole (in astronomy).
  • Hố đen có lực hấp dẫn cực mạnh. (A black hole has an extremely strong gravitational pull.)
• Hố golf (noun): Golf hole.
  • Anh ấy cần hai gậy để đưa bóng vào hố golf. (He needed two strokes to get the ball into the golf hole.)

Related Idioms

• "Tiền mất tật mang": Although not containing "hố", this idiom describes the consequence of being "hố" (duped) — losing money and gaining trouble.
  • Mua thuốc giả trên mạng, đúng là tiền mất tật mang. (Buying fake medicine online, it's truly losing money and gaining trouble [a case of being duped].)

noun

1. hole; grave; tomb
   • hố cá nhân
     foxhole