Definition

1. Verb:
   • To carpet-bomb: A military tactic involving the intensive and widespread bombing of a target area, typically to destroy everything across a large surface. The term "rải thảm" literally means "to spread a carpet," metaphorically describing how bombs cover an area as completely as a carpet covers a floor.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Không quân được lệnh rải thảm khu vực đó. (The air force was ordered to carpet-bomb that area.)
  • Chiến thuật rải thảm gây ra sự tàn phá khủng khiếp. (The carpet-bombing tactic caused horrific devastation.)

Advanced Usage

• This term is almost exclusively used in a military context to describe a specific, intensive bombing strategy. Its usage implies a scale of destruction that is comprehensive and indiscriminate across the targeted zone.

Variants and Related Words

• Ném bom rải thảm (Verb Phrase): This is the full and more common phrase meaning "to carry out carpet bombing." "Rải thảm" in this context is a shortened form of this phrase.
• Sự rải thảm (Noun): The act or instance of carpet-bombing.
  • Sự rải thảm đã biến thành phố thành bình địa. (The carpet-bombing turned the city into a wasteland.)

Synonyms

• Ném bom hàng loạt: To bomb in large numbers/series (implies a massive scale but not necessarily the complete area coverage of "rải thảm").
• Ném bom ồ ạt: To bomb intensively/inundatingly.

Related Phrases/Idioms

• Rải thảm hoa: This is a separate, non-military idiom meaning "to carpet with flowers" (e.g., to spread flowers on a path for a celebratory procession). It is crucial to distinguish this positive, ceremonial usage from the military term based on context.
  • Người dân rải thảm hoa chào đón nguyên thủ. (The people carpeted the path with flowers to welcome the head of state.)

1. Ném bom rải thảm
2. To carpet-bomb