Definition

Verb phrase: - To recover one's appetite (after an illness): To return to eating with one's former strength, heartiness, and enjoyment of food following a period of sickness or poor health. It implies a restoration of normal, healthy eating habits.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Sau khi khỏi sốt, nó bắt đầu lại bữa. (After recovering from the fever, he began to recover his appetite.)
  • Bệnh nhân đã lại bữa, mỗi bữa ăn được ba bát cơm. (The patient has recovered his appetite, eating three bowls of rice per meal.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often describes a noticeable and positive change in a convalescent person's eating behavior, signaling a key milestone in their recovery.
• It can be used figuratively in casual contexts to describe regaining enthusiasm for an activity after a period of disinterest, though this is less common.

Variants and Related Words

• Trả bữa (verb phrase): An alternative, synonymous phrase for "lại bữa," meaning to recover one's appetite after illness.
  • Cụ ốm dậy đã trả bữa rồi. (The elderly person, now up from sickness, has recovered his appetite.)

Synonyms

• Regain one's appetite: To begin feeling hungry and eating well again.
• Eat heartily again: To return to consuming food with vigor and enjoyment.

Notes on Usage

• "Lại bữa" is a specific compound phrase. Its meaning is idiomatic and should not be interpreted by literally translating the individual words "lại" (again) and "bữa" (meal).
• It is primarily used to describe people, not animals or machines.
• The phrase carries a positive, reassuring connotation about a person's health progress.

1. (cũng nói) trả bữa Recover one's appetite (after an illness)
   • Ăn lại mỗi bữa năm bát cơm
     To recover one's appetite and eat five bowls of rice at a meall