Definition

Adjective/Phrase: - Thoroughly beaten; soundly thrashed: Describes a state of having been hit or beaten severely and painfully, often resulting in visible injuries or extreme soreness. It emphasizes the completeness and intensity of the beating.

Usage

This phrase is used to describe the physical condition of someone after receiving a severe beating. It often implies the beating was a punishment or consequence of an action. - It typically functions as a predicate adjective following verbs like bị (to suffer/get) or bắt (to be forced to endure). - The phrase vividly conveys not just pain but a state of being overwhelmed by physical blows.

Examples

• As an adjective phrase:
  • Thằng bé bị nhừ đòn vì tội nói dối. (The boy got a sound beating for lying.)
  • Tên cướp bắt nhừ đòn từ người dân trong làng. (The robber was thoroughly thrashed by the villagers.)
  • Nó đánh nhau và về nhà trong tình trạng nhừ đòn. (He got into a fight and came home thoroughly beaten.)

Advanced Usage

• "Nhừ đòn" can be used metaphorically in informal contexts to describe being severely criticized, defeated in a competition, or overwhelmed by work or problems, though this extends its core physical meaning.
  • Đội bóng của chúng tôi bị nhừ đòn trong trận chung kết với tỷ số 5-0. (Our football team was soundly thrashed in the final match with a score of 5-0.) (Metaphorical use)
  • Tuần này công việc chất đống khiến tôi cảm thấy nhừ đòn. (The piled-up work this week made me feel thoroughly beaten.) (Figurative use)

Variants and Related Words

• Nhừ tử (adj): Similar to "nhừ đòn," meaning beaten to a pulp or severely battered. It can be even stronger in intensity.
  • Sau trận đòn, nó nằm nhừ tử trên sàn. (After the beating, he lay battered to a pulp on the floor.)
• Đòn (n): A blow, strike, or beating. This is the root noun in the phrase.
• Bầm dập (adj): Bruised and battered, describing the physical marks from being hit.

Synonyms

• Bị đánh đập tàn nhẫn: To be brutally beaten.
• Bị trận đòn nên thân: To get a proper/deserved beating (idiomatic).
• Thâm tím (adj): Black and blue, bruised.

Related Idioms

• Ăn đòn: (Lit: To eat blows) To get beaten.
  • Nếu không nghe lời, mày sẽ ăn đòn đấy. (If you don't listen, you'll get a beating.)
• Lãnh đủ: (Lit: To receive fully) To get one's full share (often of something negative like punishment or trouble).
  • Hắn đã lãnh đủ trận đòn từ cha mình. (He got his full share of a beating from his father.)

1. Get a sound beating