Definition

1. Verb:
   • To heat intensely, to scorch, to bake: To generate or apply a very high degree of heat, often causing discomfort or a burning sensation.
   • (Figurative) To torment, to gnaw at, to burn with (an emotion): To cause persistent, intense mental or emotional suffering, often related to a strong, unresolved feeling like anger, resentment, longing, or a secret plan.

Usage Examples

• Verb (Literal):
  • Mặt trời nung nấu mặt đất khô cằn. (The sun scorched the parched earth.)
  • Cái nóng của mùa hè nung nấu mọi thứ. (The summer heat baked everything.)
• Verb (Figurative):
  • Anh ấy nung nấu ý định trả thù. (He nursed/burned with a desire for revenge.)
  • Nỗi nhớ nhà nung nấu trong lòng cô ấy. (Homesickness gnawed at her heart.)
  • Sự phản bội của bạn bè nung nấu anh ta. (His friends' betrayal tormented him.)

Advanced Usage

• "nung nấu ruột gan": An idiom meaning to be consumed with anxiety, worry, or intense inner turmoil.
  • Chờ đợi kết quả, anh ấy nung nấu ruột gan. (Waiting for the results, he was consumed with anxiety.)
• "nung nấu ý chí": To forge or temper one's will (through hardship).
  • Những khó khăn đã nung nấu ý chí của cô ấy. (The difficulties tempered/forged her will.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nung (verb): To fire, to bake (e.g., pottery, bricks); to heat in a furnace. Often used for industrial or crafting processes.
  • nung gốm (to fire pottery)
• Nóng (adjective): Hot.
• Thiêu đốt (verb): To burn, to scorch. Can be used both literally and figuratively, sometimes with a stronger, more destructive connotation than .

Synonyms

• (Literal): Đốt cháy (to burn), hun nóng (to heat up), thiêu (to scorch).
• (Figurative): Dày vò (to torment), giày vò (to torture mentally), canh cánh (to weigh on one's mind), ấp ủ (to nurture, often a positive plan or hope).

Related Phrases / Idioms

• Lửa thử vàng, gian nan thử sức: (Proverb: "Fire tests gold, adversity tests strength.") This relates to the figurative sense of as a process that tests and tempers a person.
• Nóng như lửa đốt: (Hot as burning fire.) Describes intense heat, related to the literal sense.

Notes on Meaning

The word nung nấu is powerful because it connects a physical sensation (intense heat) with a profound psychological state. The figurative meaning is more common in modern usage. It describes a feeling that is internal, persistent, and often painful or motivating, like a fire burning inside someone.

verb

1. to heat