ngủ thiếp
Definition
- Verb phrase:
- To doze off / to fall into a deep sleep: To enter a state of deep, often sudden, sleep, typically due to extreme tiredness or exhaustion. It implies a sleep that is deeper than a light nap and often happens unintentionally.
Usage Examples
- Verb phrase:
- Sau 12 giờ làm việc, anh ấy ngủ thiếp đi trên ghế sofa. (After 12 hours of work, he dozed off on the sofa.)
- Đứa bé ngủ thiếp trong vòng tay mẹ. (The child fell into a deep sleep in her mother's arms.)
- Tôi quá mệt và ngủ thiếp lúc nào không hay. (I was too tired and fell into a deep sleep without realizing it.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase often carries a nuance of succumbing to sleep because one's energy is completely depleted. It is not a planned sleep but one that overcomes a person.
Variants and Related Words
- Thiếp đi (verb phrase): to slip into unconsciousness or deep sleep. Can be used similarly but sometimes with a more literary tone.
- Cô ấy thiếp đi vì đau đớn. (She slipped into unconsciousness due to the pain.)
Synonyms
- To doze off: to fall into a light sleep, especially unintentionally.
- To fall fast asleep: to begin sleeping deeply.
- To succumb to sleep: to yield to the need to sleep.
Related Idioms
- Ngủ say như chết: to sleep like a log (literally: to sleep deeply as if dead). This idiom describes an even deeper, more profound sleep than "ngủ thiếp."
- Anh ấy làm việc mệt quá, tối về ngủ say như chết. (He worked too hard and came home to sleep like a log.)