sóng bạc đầu
Definition
- Noun:
- A white-capped wave; a white-crested wave: A wave whose crest has broken into white foam, typically due to wind or the wave reaching a certain height or encountering shallow water. This is the literal and most common meaning.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Từ trên đỉnh đồi, chúng tôi có thể nhìn thấy những sóng bạc đầu ngoài khơi. (From the hilltop, we could see the white-capped waves offshore.)
- Gió mạnh thổi vào khiến biển động, nổi lên những con sóng bạc đầu. (The strong wind blowing in made the sea rough, raising white-crested waves.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase can be used metaphorically in poetry or literature to describe something that resembles or has the qualities of such waves, such as white hair on a person's head or a field of grass moving in the wind.
- Thời gian trôi qua để lại trên mái tóc cha tôi những con sóng bạc đầu. (Time passed, leaving white-crested waves on my father's hair.)
Variants and Related Words
- Sóng cồn (n): A swelling wave, a billow. Often used interchangeably with "sóng bạc đầu" but can emphasize the wave's size and swell before it breaks.
- Sóng vỗ (v/n): To break (of waves); breaking waves. Refers to the action of waves crashing against something.
- Bạc đầu (adj): Literally "white-headed" or "grey-haired". This is the root phrase describing the white crest.
Synonyms
- White-topped wave
- Foam-crested wave
- Breaking wave (focuses more on the action than the appearance)
Related Idioms
- Sóng gió: Literally "waves and wind". An idiom meaning "storms", "turbulence", or "difficulties and challenges" in life.
- Cuộc đời họ đã trải qua nhiều sóng gió. (Their lives have been through many storms.)