Definition

1. Noun:

   • A bed (in gardening/agriculture): A long, narrow, and often raised strip of soil used for planting crops, vegetables, or flowers.
   • A furrow: A long, narrow trench cut into the soil by a plough.

2. Adverb (literary/formal):

   • In vain / for nothing: Used to indicate that an action, effort, or emotion is wasted or pointless.

Usage Examples

• Noun (bed):

  • Mẹ trồng hai luống hoa hồng. (Mom planted two beds of roses.)
  • Anh ấy đang đánh luống để trồng rau diếp. (He is making beds to plant lettuce.)

• Noun (furrow):

  • Chiếc cày để lại những luống đất thẳng tắp. (The plough left straight furrows of soil.)

• Adverb (in vain):

  • Chúng tôi đã chờ đợi luống công. (We waited in vain.)
  • Luống* lo cho tương lai.* (To worry about the future for nothing.)

Advanced Usage

• "luống cuống": to be flustered, to panic.
  • Cô ấy luống cuống khi bị hỏi đột ngột. (She panicked when asked suddenly.)

Variants and Related Words

• Luống cày (n): A furrow, specifically one made by ploughing.

  • Những luống cày sẵn sàng cho việc gieo hạt. (The furrows are ready for sowing seeds.)

• Luống rau (n): A vegetable bed.

  • Luống rau cải nhà tôi rất xanh tốt. (My family's vegetable bed of mustard greens is very lush.)

Synonyms

• Bed: A garden plot.
• Furrow: A trench, a groove.
• In vain: Pointlessly, fruitlessly.

Related Idioms

• Luống công vô ích: To waste one's effort uselessly.

  • Mọi cố gắng của họ hóa ra luống công vô ích. (All their efforts turned out to be a useless waste.)

• Luống tuổi: To spend one's youth/life in vain (often with a sense of regret).

  • Ông ấy cảm thấy mình đã luống tuổi. (He feels he wasted his life.)

1. Bed
   • đánh mấy luống khoai lang
     To make some beds for sweet potato
   • Trồng mấy luống rau
     To grow a few beds of vegetables. cut
   • luống cày
     A cut made by a plough, a furrow