Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Ripe / Fermented / Decomposed: Used to describe food, especially pickles, fermented items, or compost, that has reached a state of complete readiness through a natural process.
   • To a high degree / Intensely: Used as an intensifier with certain adjectives, particularly "đói" (hungry), to mean extremely or intensely.

2. Verb (colloquial):

   • To gobble / To devour / To eat voraciously: To eat something quickly and greedily, with large bites.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Mắm cá này ngấu rồi. (This fish pickle is ripe/fully fermented.)
  • Phân xanh đã ngấu, có thể bón cho cây. (The green manure is fully decomposed and can be used to fertilize the plants.)
  • Nó đói ngấu. (He is starving / intensely hungry.)

• Verb:

  • Nó ngấu một lúc hết cả con gà. (He gobbled down a whole chicken in a moment.)
  • Đứa trẻ ngấu cả đĩa xôi. (The child devoured the whole plate of sticky rice.)

Advanced Usage

• The verb form is often used in the reduplicated form "ngấu nghiến" to emphasize the manner of eating voraciously.
  • Nó ăn ngấu nghiến như hổ đói. (He ate voraciously like a starving tiger.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ngấu nghiến (v): To gobble up, to wolf down. This is a more common and expressive variant of the verb "ngấu."
• Ăn ngấu (v phrase): To eat greedily.

Synonyms

• Verb: Gobble, devour, wolf down, gorge.
• Adjective (for food): Ripe (for fermentation), cured, decomposed, ready.
• Adjective (as intensifier): Extremely, intensely, ravenously.

Related Idioms

• Đói ngấu: An idiomatic phrase meaning "ravenously hungry" or "starving." The word "ngấu" here functions as an inseparable intensifier.
  • Sau chuyến leo núi, chúng tôi đói ngấu. (After the hiking trip, we were ravenously hungry.)

1. (thông tục) Gobble, devour
   • Ngấu một lúc hết cả con gà
     To gobble a whole chicken in a moment
2. Ripe
   • Mắm cá này ngấu rồi
     This fish pickle is ripe
3. To ahigh degree
   • Đói ngấu
     To be hungry to a high degree, to be starving with hunger