Definition

Noun: * Dry provisions / Rations: Prepared, dehydrated, or non-perishable food designed for storage, transport, and consumption over long periods without refrigeration, typically used by soldiers, hikers, or in emergency situations. * Hardtack / Ship's biscuit: Historically, a type of simple, hard, dry biscuit or bread made from flour, water, and sometimes salt, which could be stored for very long durations, especially on ships or during military campaigns.

Usage Examples

• (The soldiers were issued dry rations to use during the march.)
• (We brought dry provisions when we went hiking.)
• (During the war, hardtack was the main food for many soldiers.)

Advanced Usage

• The term can be used metaphorically to describe something very dry, bland, or lacking in excitement, similar to "dry as dust" in English.
  • Bài giảng đó khô như lương khô. (That lecture was as dry as dust.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lương thực (n): Foodstuffs, provisions, grain. A broader term for food supplies.
• Thực phẩm khô (n): Dry food. A more general, descriptive term for any dehydrated or non-perishable food.
• Mì tôm (n): Instant noodles. A very common modern type of "dry provision" in Vietnam, though not traditionally called "lương khô."

Synonyms

• Rations
• Field rations
• Hardtack
• Ship's biscuit
• Dry food

Related Idioms

• Ăn lương khô nằm sương: (To eat dry rations and sleep in the dew). An idiom describing a hard, austere life, often of soldiers or travelers enduring hardship.
  • Đời lính thời chiến là những tháng ngày ăn lương khô nằm sương. (A soldier's life during war was months of eating dry rations and sleeping in the dew.)

noun

1. dry provisions