Definition

1. Verb:
   • To toss about; to throw oneself about: To move one's body repeatedly by turning over and over, often due to discomfort, restlessness, or strong emotion.
   • To struggle; to toil; to be deeply involved: To immerse oneself in work or a difficult situation, enduring hardships and exerting great effort.

Usage Examples

• Verb (Literal: tossing about):

  • Đứa trẻ lăn lộn trên giường vì không ngủ được. (The child tossed and turned in bed because it couldn't sleep.)
  • Anh ấy đau bụng đến mức phải lăn lộn trên sàn. (His stomach hurt so much he had to writhe on the floor.)

• Verb (Figurative: struggling/toiling):

  • Bà ấy đã lăn lộn nhiều năm để nuôi các con ăn học. (She toiled for many years to raise and educate her children.)
  • Muốn thành công trong nghề này, anh phải chấp nhận lăn lộn với thực tế. (To succeed in this profession, you must accept struggling with reality.)

Advanced Usage

• "lăn lộn với đời": to struggle with life; to experience the hardships of life.

  • Ông ấy đã lăn lộn với đời từ khi còn rất trẻ. (He has been struggling with life since he was very young.)

• "lăn lộn kiếm sống": to work hard to make a living; to hustle for a living.

  • Họ phải lăn lộn kiếm sống từng ngày ở thành phố lớn. (They have to hustle for a living day by day in the big city.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lăn (verb): to roll.

  • Quả bóng lăn xuống dốc. (The ball rolled down the slope.)

• Lộn (verb): to turn over, to flip.

  • Lật lộn trang sách. (To turn over a page of the book.)

• Vật lộn (verb): to wrestle; to struggle fiercely (often with a problem or difficulty). This is a close synonym for the figurative sense of "lăn lộn".

  • Vật lộn với bài toán khó. (To wrestle with a difficult math problem.)

Synonyms

• Vật vã (verb): to writhe in pain or struggle; to be in agony (often more intense than "lăn lộn").
• Bươn chải (verb): to strive hard, to hustle (emphasizes effort to overcome difficulties, similar to the figurative sense).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

Note: As a single verb, "lăn lộn" itself is not typically combined with other particles to form distinct phrasal verbs in Vietnamese. Its meaning is conveyed through combination with objects (e.g., "lăn lộn với...", "lăn lộn trong...").

Related Idioms

• "Lăn lộn đầu đường xó chợ": to struggle and toil in the harsh, lowly parts of society (markets, streets); to have a very tough life.

  • Ông ta giàu có bây giờ nhưng thuở trẻ cũng từng lăn lộn đầu đường xó chợ. (He is wealthy now, but in his youth, he also once struggled in the gritty parts of town.)

• "Đau lăn đau lộn" (colloquial): to be in severe, writhing pain.

  • Cơn đau bụng khiến nó đau lăn đau lộn. (The stomach ache caused him to writhe in severe pain.)

verb

1. to toss about; to throw oneself about