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Idioms

Japanese fixed expressions — yojijukugo (四字熟語), kanyōku (慣用句), and kotowaza (諺). Each entry shows the literal kanji reading next to the figurative meaning.

175 idioms

Tier 0 · most common (10)

一石を投じる 慣用句
to throw one stone
七転び八起き 慣用句
fall down seven times, get up eight
花より団子 慣用句
dumplings over flowers
油を売る 慣用句
to sell oil
顔が広い 慣用句
face is wide
手を貸す 慣用句
to lend out one's hand
鶴の一声 慣用句
the crane's single cry
猫に小判 慣用句
gold coins to a cat
足を洗う 慣用句
to wash one's feet
腹を割る 慣用句
to split open the belly

Tier 1 · common (165)

一から十まで 慣用句
from one to ten
一本やり 慣用句
a single spear
年がいもなく 慣用句
without even the worth of one's years
あごを出す 慣用句
to stick out one's chin
この時とばかり 慣用句
as if only this one moment
その時はその時 慣用句
that time is that time
一発かます 慣用句
to land one blow
人間ができている 慣用句
one's personhood is fully formed
ざまあ見ろ 慣用句
look at that sorry state
月とスッポン 慣用句
moon and soft-shell turtle
のれんを分ける 慣用句
to divide the shop curtain
後がつかえる 慣用句
the line behind is blocked
地が出る 慣用句
the true base comes out
カビが生える 慣用句
mold sprouts
うだつが上がらない 慣用句
the gable post does not rise
うだつの上がらない 慣用句
the gable post not rising
ハードルを上げる 慣用句
to raise the hurdle
手が出ない 慣用句
one's hand simply cannot come out
手が出る 慣用句
a hand suddenly comes flying out
手を出す 慣用句
to put one's own hand out
長い目で見る 慣用句
to look with a long eye
上手を行く 慣用句
to go along the upper hand
そりが合う 慣用句
the two sled runners fit together
そりが合わない 慣用句
the two sled runners do not fit
ウマが合う 慣用句
the horse fits well with another
手の内を見せる 慣用句
to show the inside of one's hand
一本取る 慣用句
to take away one long straight thing
間に立つ 慣用句
to stand in the space between
手が上がる 慣用句
a hand goes rising straight up
手の者 慣用句
a person belonging to the hand
ツケが回ってくる 慣用句
the tab comes rotating right back around
ツケが回る 慣用句
the tab goes revolving all around
ヤキが回る 慣用句
the roasting goes rotating all around
手を合わせる 慣用句
to press one's two hands flat together
新しいページをめくる 慣用句
to flip over a new page
下に出る 慣用句
to come out on the lower side
新しいページを開く 慣用句
to spread open a new page
首を長くする 慣用句
to stretch one's neck out long
目の上のこぶ 慣用句
a bump sitting right above the eye
くちばしを入れる 慣用句
to stick one's beak right in
スイッチが入る 慣用句
the switch enters right inside someone
メスを入れる 慣用句
to put a scalpel right inside
相場が決まっている 慣用句
the market rate is already fixed
選ぶところがない 慣用句
no place from which to choose exists
トップに立つ 慣用句
to stand right at the top
力こぶを入れる 慣用句
to put one's strength lump in
手がかかる 慣用句
the hand hangs heavily on everything
手がつけられない 慣用句
hands cannot be placed on it
手がない 慣用句
there are no hands
手につかない 慣用句
does not cling to the hand
手のかかる 慣用句
the kind that takes hands
手のつけられない 慣用句
on which hands cannot be placed
手のもの 慣用句
thing of the hand
実が入る 慣用句
the grain fills in
五本の指に入る 慣用句
enters among the five fingers
金の世の中 慣用句
the world of money
目くじらを立てる 慣用句
raise the corner of the eye
目くじら立てる 慣用句
raise the eye's corner
目に立つ 慣用句
stand in the eye
目を開く 慣用句
open the eyes
みにくいアヒルの子 慣用句
the ugly duck's child
首が回らない 慣用句
the neck cannot turn
目からウロコ 慣用句
scales from the eyes
目をつける 慣用句
put eyes on
山が見える 慣用句
the mountain can be seen
百人力 慣用句
the strength of a hundred people
九死に一生 慣用句
nine deaths, one life
五指に入る 慣用句
enters among the five fingers
目の正月 慣用句
the eye's New Year
同日の論ではない 慣用句
not the same day's argument
生を受ける 慣用句
receive life
ああ言えばこう言う 慣用句
if said that way, say this way
今日あって明日ない身 慣用句
a body here today, not tomorrow
一目も二目も置く 慣用句
place even one stone, even two
新しいページを加える 慣用句
add a new page
スポットが当たる 慣用句
a spotlight strikes
スポットを当てる 慣用句
aim a spotlight at
ヤマが当たる 慣用句
the mountain lands right on the mark
時を得る 慣用句
to obtain and hold one's own time
同日の談ではない 慣用句
not to be the same day's discussion
ぶら下がり 慣用句
hanging low and dangling about below
ハードルを下げる 慣用句
to bring the hurdle further down below
動きが取れない 慣用句
movement itself cannot be taken back
九死に一生を得る 慣用句
in nine deaths to obtain one life
首をもたげる 慣用句
to raise the neck and head aloft
同気相求む 慣用句
same spirit, mutually seek one another out
同気相求める 慣用句
same spirit, mutually seek one another out
関の山 慣用句
the mountain at the barrier gate
高みの見物 慣用句
watching the spectacle from a high place
ここに来て 慣用句
having now arrived and come right here
トサカに来る 慣用句
to come right up to the cockscomb
目に物見せる 慣用句
to show something right to the very eyes
家を外にする 慣用句
to make one's house into the outside
心を開く 慣用句
to open wide one's own heart
首を取る 慣用句
to reach out and take the head
山を当てる 慣用句
to hit the mountain on the mark
後ろ指を指す 慣用句
to point a finger from behind someone's back
気をもむ 慣用句
to knead and wring one's own spirit
あさっての方を向く 慣用句
to face the direction of the day after tomorrow
気は持ちよう 慣用句
the spirit is all in how you hold it
一目置く 慣用句
to lay down one stone in advance
心が通う 慣用句
the heart flows freely back and forth
心が通じる 慣用句
the heart passes through and connects fully
目が点になる 慣用句
the eyes shrink into tiny round dots
カラスの行水 慣用句
the crow's ritual bathing in water
つかえが取れる 慣用句
the stuck blockage is removed and gone
ミイラ取りがミイラになる 慣用句
the mummy catcher himself becomes a mummy
山をかける 慣用句
to bet everything on a mountain
手が利く 慣用句
the hand works and is highly effective
山と言えば川 慣用句
say mountain and one counters with river
元も子もない 慣用句
neither the principal nor the interest remains
水が合う 慣用句
the water suits and agrees with one
水が合わない 慣用句
the water does not suit or agree
道が開ける 慣用句
the road opens and a path clears
一を聞いて十を知る 慣用句
hear one thing and know all ten
証文の出し後れ 慣用句
a written proof document issued too late
あさっての方向を向く 慣用句
to face the direction of the day after tomorrow
手ぐすね引く 慣用句
to draw the bow with resin-readied hands
一日一歩 慣用句
one day, one step
手を打つ 慣用句
to strike the hands together with a clap
後が無い 慣用句
there is nothing remaining left behind one
目が死んでいる 慣用句
the eyes have died and gone dark
指をくわえる 慣用句
to hold one's own finger inside the mouth
指をさす 慣用句
to extend a pointing finger at someone
口から生まれる 慣用句
to be born from out of a mouth
元が取れる 慣用句
the original outlay can be taken back
心にかかる 慣用句
something hangs and weighs upon the heart
手を挙げる 慣用句
to raise one's hand up into the air
ウドの大木 慣用句
a great towering tree of udo plant
口から先に生まれる 慣用句
born with the mouth coming out first
引きが強い 慣用句
the power of one's draw is strong
海のものとも山のものともつかない 慣用句
cannot grasp whether sea thing or mountain thing
人を食う 慣用句
to eat up and devour a person
口が回る 慣用句
the mouth spins and turns around freely
年を食う 慣用句
to eat up and consume one's years
年食う 慣用句
eating and consuming the years away
引けを取らない 慣用句
not yielding a single step of retreat
引けを取る 慣用句
take the withdrawal
開いた口がふさがらない 慣用句
the opened mouth cannot close
見得を切る 慣用句
cut the pose of visible worth
二足のわらじ 慣用句
two pairs of straw sandals
足が出る 慣用句
a foot comes out
切れ上がる 慣用句
cuts and rises upward
百害あって一利なし 慣用句
a hundred harms, not one benefit
手が空く 慣用句
the hand becomes empty
台所事情 慣用句
the kitchen's circumstances
カードの切り方 慣用句
the way of cutting the card
足元を見る 慣用句
look at the ground at one's feet
身が入る 慣用句
the body enters in
身を入れる 慣用句
put the body in
手を変え品を変え 慣用句
changing the method, changing the goods
地に足がつく 慣用句
the feet attach to the ground
手の施しようがない 慣用句
no way to apply a hand's treatment
海の物とも山の物とも判らない 慣用句
cannot tell if sea thing or mountain thing
手が切れる 慣用句
the hand cuts clean through
手を切る 慣用句
cut the hand
目にも止まらぬ 慣用句
does not stop even to the eye
白い目で見る 慣用句
look with white eyes
白日の下にさらす 慣用句
expose under the white sun
一線を画する 慣用句
draw one dividing line
軍配が上がる 慣用句
the war fan rises
産声を上げる 慣用句
raise up the birth cry
さじ加減 慣用句
the spoon's adding and reducing
体が空く 慣用句
the body becomes empty
度が過ぎる 慣用句
the degree passes by too far

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