Definition

1. Verb:

   • To interrupt; to cut off: To stop something that is continuous or in progress, especially speech or a flow.
   • To pick; to pluck; to pinch off: To detach something, like a flower or leaf, by pinching or breaking it with the fingers.
   • To turn off; to switch off: To stop the operation of a device, machine, or utility (e.g., electricity).

2. Adjective (used as a complement after adjectives): Extremely; utterly; completely. Used to intensify an adjective, often describing a pure, intense, and sometimes undesirable state (e.g., of color, temperature, or feeling).

Usage Examples

• Verb (to interrupt/cut off):
  • Đừng ngắt lời tôi. (Don't interrupt me.)
  • Anh ấy ngắt dòng điện. (He cut off the electricity.)
• Verb (to pick/pluck):
  • Cô bé ngắt một bông hoa trong vườn. (The little girl picked a flower in the garden.)
• Adjective (as a complement):
  • Bầu trời xanh ngắt. (The sky is an intense, pure blue.)
  • Căn phòng im lặng ngắt. (The room is utterly silent.)
  • Cà phê đắng ngắt. (The coffee is extremely bitter.)

Advanced Usage

• "ngắt quãng": to be intermittent; to be discontinuous.
  • Cuộc trò chuyện bị ngắt quãng nhiều lần. (The conversation was interrupted many times.)
• "ngắt mạch": to break a circuit; to disconnect.
  • Công tắc này dùng để ngắt mạch điện. (This switch is used to break the electrical circuit.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ngắt lời (v): to interrupt someone's speech.
• Ngắt ngọn (v): to pinch off the top of a plant.
• Ngắt kết nối (v): to disconnect (a connection).

Synonyms

• Interrupt: to break the continuity of.
• Pluck: to pick or pull off.
• Sever: to cut off.
• Extremely (as a complement): intensely, utterly.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Lạnh ngắt: extremely cold (often with a desolate feeling).
  • Đêm mùa đông lạnh ngắt. (The winter night is piercingly cold.)
• Vắng ngắt: completely deserted/vacant.
  • Con đường vắng ngắt. (The road is utterly deserted.)
• Chán ngắt: extremely boring; utterly dull.
  • Bộ phim đó chán ngắt. (That movie is terribly boring.)

verb

1. to interrupt
   • ngắt lời người nào
     to interrupt someone. to pick; to pluck; to pinch off