tuyệt thực

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To go on a hunger strike: To deliberately refuse to eat, and often also to drink, as a form of non-violent protest or to make a strong demand.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Các tù nhân chính trị đã tuyệt thực để phản đối điều kiện giam giữ. (The political prisoners went on a hunger strike to protest the detention conditions.)
  • Nhóm hoạt động quyết định tuyệt thực cho đến khi yêu cầu của họ được đáp ứng. (The activist group decided to hunger strike until their demands were met.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is used almost exclusively in a political, social, or moral protest context. It is not typically used for medical fasting or dieting.
• It implies a collective or organized action more often than an individual one, though individual cases are possible.

Variants and Related Words

• Đình công (v): to strike (work stoppage).
• Biểu tình (v/n): to protest / a protest.
• Nhịn ăn (v): to fast (general term, can be for health, religious, or protest reasons).

Synonyms

• To hunger strike: The direct equivalent.
• To fast (for protest): A broader term that can include hunger strike.

Related Idioms

• While there is no direct idiom with "tuyệt thực," the action itself is a powerful symbolic gesture often described as a "cuộc tuyệt thực" (a hunger strike campaign).