Definition

1. Verb:

   • To struggle/wriggle down: To describe a young child actively trying to squirm or wriggle out of someone's arms to get down to the ground.
   • To strive/endeavor intensely: To throw oneself into an action or to exert great effort in doing something.

2. Adjective/Adverbial Particle:

   • Crushing/pressing down: Describing a type of pain, often associated with labor contractions, that feels heavy, pressing, or bearing down.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • Đứa bé không chịu ngồi yên, cứ trằn xuống đất. (The child wouldn't sit still, just kept wriggling down to the floor.)
  • Nó trằn ra làm việc cả đêm. (He strove intensely, working all night.)

• Adjective/Adverbial Particle:

  • Cơn đau trằn bụng dưới. (A pressing pain in the lower abdomen.)
  • Cô ấy đau trằn khi chuyển dạ. (She had bearing-down pain during labor.)

Advanced Usage

• The verb form often implies a physical struggle against being held or a metaphorical struggle to accomplish a task with great determination.
• The adjectival form is almost exclusively used to describe a specific, intense, and downward-pressing sensation of pain.

Variants and Related Words

• Trằn trọc (v): To toss and turn (usually due to worry or insomnia).
  • Lo lắng, anh ấy trằn trọc cả đêm. (Worried, he tossed and turned all night.)

Synonyms

• To wriggle: To twist and turn the body.
• To strive: To make great efforts.
• Crushing/pressing: Applying heavy weight or force.

Related Idioms

• Trằn mình làm việc: To work oneself to the bone; to exert immense physical effort in work.
  • Để nuôi gia đình, ông ấy trằn mình làm việc. (To support his family, he worked himself to the bone.)