Definition

1. Verb phrase:

   • To go to the front / To go into battle: The primary meaning refers to soldiers or military units leaving their base or position to enter a battlefield or combat zone.
   • To take the field (in sports): Used metaphorically to describe a sports team or player entering the field of play to compete in a match.

2. Verb phrase (figurative):

   • To step up to a challenge / To enter the fray: Used broadly for anyone beginning a difficult task, entering a competition, or confronting a significant challenge, similar to a soldier going to battle.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase (military):

  • Đơn vị đã sẵn sàng ra trận. (The unit is ready to go to the front.)
  • Người lính trẻ lần đầu ra trận. (The young soldier went into battle for the first time.)

• Verb phrase (sports/figurative):

  • Đội tuyển Việt Nam ra trận với tinh thần quyết thắng. (The Vietnamese national team took the field with a determined winning spirit.)
  • Cô ấy ra trận trong kỳ thi quan trọng. (She stepped up to the challenge of the important exam.)

Advanced Usage

• "ra trận với tinh thần cao": to go into battle/enter the competition with high morale.
  • Các cầu thủ ra trận với tinh thần cao nhất. (The players took the field with the highest morale.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lâm trận (v): to be engaged in battle, to be in the thick of fighting.

  • Đội quân đang lâm trận ác liệt. (The army is engaged in fierce battle.)

• Xuất trận (v): to deploy to battle, to go out to fight (often more formal/literary).

  • Vị tướng ra lệnh cho quân đội xuất trận. (The general ordered the army to deploy to battle.)

Synonyms

• To deploy: to move troops into position for military action.
• To take the field: to go onto the playing field (sports) or battlefield.
• To enter the competition: to begin participating in a contest.

Related Idioms

• Ăn no ra trận: Literally "to eat one's fill before going to battle." Means to prepare thoroughly before undertaking a big task.

  • Chúng ta cần chuẩn bị kỹ, ăn no ra trận. (We need to prepare thoroughly, like eating our fill before going to battle.)

• Ra trận không mang theo khiên: Literally "to go into battle without a shield." Means to face a challenge unprepared or vulnerable.

  • Đi phỏng vấn mà không nghiên cứu là ra trận không mang theo khiên. (Going to an interview without research is like going into battle without a shield.)

1. Go to the front