Definition

1. Verb:
   • To turn (while moving): To change direction while walking, driving, cycling, etc.
   • To part; to separate; to divide: To push apart or move things to the sides to create a path, or to divide something into sections.
   • (Agriculture) To sharecrop; to cultivate on a share basis: To farm on someone else's land for a share of the harvest.

Usage Examples

• Verb (to turn):
  • Đến ngã tư, hãy rẽ phải. (At the intersection, turn right.)
  • Xe buýt rẽ vào trạm. (The bus turned into the station.)
• Verb (to part/separate):
  • Người lính rẽ đám lau sậy để tiến lên. (The soldier parted the reeds to advance.)
  • Cô ấy rẽ tóc về một bên. (She parts her hair to one side.)

Advanced Usage

• "rẽ sóng": to cleave the waves (to cut through water while moving).
  • Con tàu rẽ sóng ra khơi. (The ship cleaves the waves heading out to sea.)
• "rẽ đám đông": to make one's way through a crowd.
  • Anh ấy phải rẽ đám đông để tìm bạn. (He had to make his way through the crowd to find his friend.)
• "rẽ ngang": to turn off (the main path); to divert.
  • Câu chuyện bỗng rẽ ngang sang một hướng bất ngờ. (The story suddenly took an unexpected turn.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chia rẽ (v): to divide, to split (often used for relationships or groups).
  • Những bất đồng có thể chia rẽ một gia đình. (Disagreements can divide a family.)
• Đường rẽ / Ngã rẽ (n): a fork in the road; a turn-off; a junction.
  • Chúng tôi đã đi sai ở một ngã rẽ. (We took a wrong turn at a fork in the road.)
• Cấy rẽ / Nuôi rẽ (v): to sharecrop (rice cultivation) / to raise livestock on a share basis.
  • Ông ấy sống bằng nghề cấy rẽ. (He makes a living by sharecropping.)

Synonyms

• Turn: to change direction.
• Part: to separate or move apart.
• Divide: to separate into parts.
• Cleave: to split or cut through.

Related Idioms

• Rẽ thúy chia uyên: (Literally: to part the kingfisher and split the pair) To break up a loving couple; to cause separation.
  • Số phận rẽ thúy chia uyên đôi trẻ. (Fate parted the young lovers.)

verb

1. to cleave; to turn
   • rẽ sóng
     to cleave the waves