Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Overbrimmed, brimming, full to overflowing: Describes a container or space that is so full that its contents are almost spilling out or overflowing. It emphasizes an abundant, plentiful, or copious quantity.
   • Chock-full, packed: Can describe something filled to maximum capacity, often implying a pleasant or desirable abundance.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Thuyền ăm ắp cá. (The boat is overbrimmed / brimming with fish.)
  • Kho lúa ăm ắp sau vụ mùa. (The rice granary is chock-full after the harvest.)
  • Lòng mẹ ăm ắp tình yêu thương. (A mother's heart is brimming with love.)

Advanced Usage

• "ăm ắp" as an intensifier: The word is often used in its reduplicative form (từ láy) to vividly intensify the state of being full. It is rarely used in its base form "ắp" alone in modern Vietnamese.
  • Niềm vui ăm ắp trong lòng. (Joy fills the heart to overflowing.)

Variants and Related Words

• Đầy ắp (adj): Synonymous with "ăm ắp," meaning completely full, brimming. It is a more commonly used variant.
  • Căn phòng đầy ắp tiếng cười. (The room is filled to the brim with laughter.)
• Ắp (v, archaic/less common): To be full. As noted in the reference, "ăm ắp" is derived from this root, which is now primarily seen in its reduplicated form.

Synonyms

• Chật ních (adj): Packed tight, crammed full (often for spaces with people or objects).
• Nghẹt (adj): Chock-full, jam-packed (can imply being overly full).
• Tràn đầy (adj): Overflowing, brimming (often used for abstract concepts like emotions).

Related Idioms and Phrases

• (Có) ăm ắp: Used to state that something exists in great abundance.
  • Nhà nó có ăm ắp, thiếu thốn gì đâu. (Their house has plenty [of everything], they lack nothing.)
• Ăm ắp như nêm: (Idiom) As packed as a stuffed parcel; extremely full or tight.
  • Chuyến xe đông khách, ăm ắp như nêm. (The bus was crowded with passengers, packed as tight as a drum.)

adj

1. Overbrimmed
   • thuyền ăm ắp cá
     a boat overbrimmed with fish