poob

White Hmong

Etymology

From Proto-Hmong *pʉŋᴬ (“to fall”), probably borrowed from Middle Chinese 崩 (MC pong, “to collapse, crumble”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɒ̃˥/

Verb

poob

1. to drop, fall down, fall from a height

   Me nyuam poob ntoo. ― The kid falls (from the) tree.

2. (figuratively) to fall in a moral sense
3. to lose, fail

   Nws poob nyiaj rau kev twv txiaj. ― He loses money to gambling.

   Nws poob hoob. ― He fails a class.

Derived terms

• poob dej (“to drown”)
• poob siab (“despair, being scared or discouraged”)

 

References

• Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[1], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 234.