Definition

1. Noun:
   • A gang, band, or crowd (often with a negative connotation): "lũ" refers to a group or multitude of people, typically implying a disorderly, troublesome, or contemptible group.
   • A flood, freshet, spate: "lũ" refers to a large, sudden, and often destructive influx of water, usually from heavy rain or overflowing rivers.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Group):
  • Cả lũ trẻ con chạy ra sân. (The whole crowd of children ran out to the yard.)
  • Lũ cướp đã bị bắt. (The gang of robbers was caught.)
• Noun (Flood):
  • Nước lũ dâng cao rất nhanh. (The floodwaters rose very quickly.)
  • Mùa lũ thường bắt đầu vào tháng Tám. (The flood season usually starts in August.)

Advanced Usage

• "cả lũ" / "một lũ": Emphasizes the entirety or the collective nature of the group, often with a pejorative tone.
  • Cả lũ chúng nó đều đồng lõa. (The whole gang of them were all accomplices.)
  • Một lũ người ồn ào. (A noisy crowd of people.)
• Used metaphorically to describe a large, overwhelming quantity of non-living things.
  • Một lũ thiên tai ập đến. (A spate of natural disasters struck.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lũ lụt (n): A compound noun specifically meaning "flood disaster" or "inundation."
  • Lũ lụt gây thiệt hại nặng nề. (The flood disaster caused severe damage.)
• Lũ lượt (adv): In crowds, in droves, streaming continuously.
  • Người dân lũ lượt sơ tán. (The people evacuated in droves.)

Synonyms

• Bọn, đám (n): Gang, group (similar negative connotation for people).
• Bầy (n): Flock, herd, pack (used for animals, sometimes metaphorically for people with a very negative tone).
• Trận lụt, cơn lũ (n): Flood, freshet (for the water phenomenon).

Related Phrases

• Nước lũ: Floodwater.
  • Đường ngập trong nước lũ. (The road is submerged in floodwater.)
• Mưa lũ: Torrential rain causing floods.
  • Trời đổ mưa lũ. (The sky poured down torrential rain.)

Related Idioms

• Lũ chim vỡ tổ: Literally "a flock of birds with a destroyed nest," used to describe a panicked, scattered group of people.
  • Sau vụ nổ, mọi người chạy toán loạn như lũ chim vỡ tổ. (After the explosion, people ran helter-skelter like a flock of birds with a destroyed nest.)

noun

1. gang; band; croud
   • cả lũ
     the whole gang

noun

1. spate; freshet
   • lũ lượt
     in crowds