Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To exhale with a gasp or a final breath: Refers specifically to the act of breathing out heavily or with effort, often associated with the final breaths before death, extreme exhaustion, or profound relief.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Người bệnh nặng chỉ còn thở hắt ra. (The critically ill patient is only gasping out breaths.)
  • Sau cơn đau đớn, anh ấy thở hắt ra một hơi dài. (After the pain, he let out a long, exhausted sigh.)
  • Tiếng thở hắt ra cuối cùng của người lính. (The soldier's final, gasped exhalation.)

Advanced Usage

• This phrase is most commonly used in literary, medical, or dramatic contexts to describe a breath that signifies an end or extreme physical state, such as dying, collapsing from fatigue, or releasing pent-up emotion.

Variants and Related Words

• Thở (v): to breathe.
• Thở hắt (v): to gasp, to exhale heavily (a slightly shorter form with the same core meaning).
• Hắt hơi (v): to sneeze (a different action; note the distinction).

Synonyms

• To gasp out: To emit breath in a sudden, short burst.
• To exhale heavily: To breathe out with great force or effort.
• To expire (in agony): To breathe one's last breath, especially with difficulty.

Related Idioms

• While "thở hắt ra" itself is descriptive, it is central to the imagery in phrases describing death or extreme effort.
  • Thở hắt ra hơi cuối cùng: to breathe one's last gasp.

    • Ông cụ đã thở hắt ra hơi cuối cùng lúc nửa đêm. (The old man breathed his last gasp at midnight.)