Definition

1. Verb:
   • To bathe; to take a bath; to take a shower: The primary meaning is to wash one's body with water, typically by immersing in a bath or standing under a shower.
   • To swim; to go for a dip: Used specifically for bathing in natural bodies of water like the sea, a river, or a lake for leisure or to cool off.
   • To treat by exposure: To expose oneself or something to a specific element (e.g., sunlight, a type of ray, a chemical solution) for a purpose, such as therapy or polishing.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Tôi tắm mỗi sáng. (I take a shower every morning.)
  • Trẻ con thích tắm biển. (Children love to swim in the sea / go for a sea bath.)
  • Cô ấy đang tắm nắng trên bãi cỏ. (She is sunbathing on the lawn.)

Advanced Usage

• "tắm tiên": Literally "to bathe like a fairy," meaning to bathe in a very gentle, light rain or in a misty, dreamlike setting.
  • Cơn mưa nhẹ như cho cây cối được tắm tiên. (The light rain was like letting the trees bathe in a fairy-like shower.)
• "tắm máu": Literally "to bathe in blood," an idiom meaning a massacre or a bloody event.
  • Trận chiến đó đã biến cánh đồng thành một bãi tắm máu. (That battle turned the field into a bloodbath.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tắm gội (v): To bathe and wash one's hair; to perform full body hygiene.
  • Sau khi tập thể thao, cậu ấy đi tắm gội. (After playing sports, he went to take a bath and wash his hair.)
• Tắm nắng (v): To sunbathe.
  • Mùa hè, nhiều người ra bãi biển để tắm nắng. (In summer, many people go to the beach to sunbathe.)
• Tắm biển (v): To swim in the sea; to go sea bathing.
  • Hoạt động ưa thích của họ là tắm biển. (Their favorite activity is swimming in the sea.)

Synonyms

• Bathe: To wash oneself in a bath.
• Shower: To wash under a spray of water.
• Swim: To move through water.
• Sunbathe: To lie in the sun.

Related Idioms

• Về ta tắm ao ta: Literally "to return home and bathe in one's own pond," meaning "there's no place like home" or "east, west, home is best." It emphasizes the comfort and superiority of one's own home and familiar surroundings.
  • Đi du lịch vui thật, nhưng cuối cùng vẫn là "về ta tắm ao ta". (Traveling is fun, but in the end, "there's no place like home.")

verb

1. to have a bath; to bathe