Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To tide over a difficult period: To manage or survive through a challenging or temporary time of hardship, often with minimal resources or by making do.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Gia đình tôi cố gắng đỡ thì qua mùa mất mùa. (My family tried to tide over the crop failure season.)
  • Số tiền nhỏ đó giúp anh ấy đỡ thì vài tuần. (That small amount of money helped him tide over a few weeks.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies a temporary, stop-gap solution to get through a specific period of scarcity or difficulty until a better situation arrives.

Variants and Related Words

• Đỡ thời: This is a variant form with identical meaning and usage to "đỡ thì".
  • Họ tích trữ lương thực để đỡ thời khi giá cả tăng cao. (They stockpiled food to tide over the time when prices are high.)

Synonyms

• To scrape by: To manage with difficulty to survive with very little.
• To get by: To manage to live or deal with a situation, usually with minimal resources.
• To weather the storm: To survive a difficult period or situation.

Related Idioms

• Chạy ăn từng bữa: To live hand to mouth. This idiom describes a more persistent state of poverty, whereas "đỡ thì" focuses on surviving a specific, temporary period.
  • Đỡ thì khác với chạy ăn từng bữa; nó là giải pháp tạm thời. (Tiding over is different from living hand to mouth; it is a temporary solution.)

1. (cũng nói) đỡ thời Tide over the current difficult time