Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Thirsty: The primary and most common meaning, describing the physical sensation of needing or wanting to drink water or other liquids.
   • Bent on recovering one's losses (in gambling): A figurative and specialized meaning, used in the context of gambling (e.g., cockfighting, dice games) to describe a gambler who, having suffered heavy losses, is desperately determined to continue playing in an attempt to win back their money.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Literal meaning - Thirsty):

  • Trời nóng quá, tôi cảm thấy rất khát nước. (It's so hot, I feel very thirsty.)
  • Sau khi chạy bộ, cậu ấy khát nước và uống hết một chai nước. (After running, he was thirsty and drank a whole bottle of water.)

• Adjective (Figurative meaning - Gambling context):

  • Hắn đã thua sạch tiền nhưng vẫn khát nước, nhất định không chịu về. (He lost all his money but was still bent on recovering his losses, refusing to go home.)
  • Tính khát nước của những tay chơi cờ bạc thường dẫn họ đến chỗ phá sản. (The desperation to recoup losses of gamblers often leads them to bankruptcy.)

Advanced Usage

• The figurative usage is highly contextual and is almost exclusively associated with gambling environments and culture. It carries a negative connotation, implying irrational persistence driven by loss and desperation.

Variants and Related Words

• Khát (adj): Thirsty. A more general term that can stand alone or combine with other words (e.g., - thirsty for milk). Khát nước specifies thirst for water.
• Cơn khát (n): A thirst, a spell of thirst.
  • Cơn khát nước (n): A bout of thirst for water.

Synonyms

• Thirsty: The direct English equivalent for the literal meaning.
• Craving a drink: Desiring a drink.
• Desperate to win back losses / Chasing losses: Phrases that capture the figurative gambling meaning in English.

Related Idioms

• Khát như cháy cổ: (Idiom) As thirsty as a parched throat; extremely thirsty.
  • Đi giữa sa mạc, chúng tôi khát như cháy cổ. (Walking in the desert, we were extremely thirsty.)
• The term khát nước itself, in its gambling sense, functions like an idiomatic expression within that specific subculture.

1. Bent on recovering one's heavy losses (ddámh bạc)