Definition

1. Verb:

   • To shake: To cause something to move back and forth or up and down with quick, forceful movements. Often implies a deliberate action to make something, like a tree, release what it holds.
   • To vibrate; to tremble: To move with small, rapid movements, often as a result of an external force like sound or impact.
   • To ring (a bell): To cause a bell to sound by moving it.

2. Verb (figurative):

   • To wag (a leg): To move a part of the body, typically a leg, in a relaxed, swinging motion, often indicating a state of leisure or contentment.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Người nông dân rung cây để hái quả. (The farmer shakes the tree to pick fruit.)
  • Tiếng nổ lớn làm rung cửa sổ. (The loud explosion made the windows vibrate.)
  • Thầy tu rung chuông vào lúc bình minh. (The monk rings the bell at dawn.)
• Verb (figurative):
  • Ông cụ ngồi rung đùi trên ghế. (The old man sat wagging his leg on the chair.)

Advanced Usage

• Technical/Medical Contexts:
  • "rung tim": cardiac fibrillation. Refers to a rapid, irregular quivering of the heart muscles.

    • Bệnh nhân được chẩn đoán bị rung tâm nhĩ. (The patient was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.)
• Linguistics/Music:
  • "phụ âm rung": a trill consonant (e.g., the rolled 'r' sound).

    • Âm "r" trong tiếng Tây Ban Nha thường là một phụ âm rung. (The "r" sound in Spanish is often a trill consonant.)

Variants and Related Words

• Rung động (v): to be moved/emotionally stirred; to vibrate (emotionally or physically).
  • Bản nhạc đó khiến trái tim cô rung động. (That piece of music made her heart stir.)
• Rung rinh (v): to sway gently, to quiver (often describing lighter, more delicate movement than "rung").
  • Những chiếc lá rung rinh trong gió. (The leaves quivered in the wind.)

Synonyms

• Lắc: to shake (often more general or less forceful).
• Lay: to shake, to rock (can imply a loosening effect).
• Run (in the sense of trembling): to tremble, to shake involuntarily.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Rung cây dọa khỉ: Literally "to shake the tree to scare the monkey." Figuratively means to use an indirect warning or to punish one person as a warning to others.
  • Hắn làm thế chỉ là rung cây dọa khỉ mà thôi. (He did that just to shake the tree and scare the monkey—to make an example.)
• Rung chuông báo tử: To sound the death knell; to signal the end or failure of something.
  • Sự kiện đó rung chuông báo tử cho chế độ cũ. (That event sounded the death knell for the old regime.)

verb

1. to shake; to shake down
   • rung cây
     to shake a tree