Meaning & readings
push, stop, check, subdue, attach, seize, weight, shove, press, seal, do in spite of
Origin
The character combines a hand radical on the left, which shows this is an action performed with the hand, with the component 甲 on the right, which serves as a sound hint for pronunciation rather than adding to the meaning. The hand component makes sense for the primary meaning of "push," since pushing is something you do with your hands. The other meanings like "stop," "check," and "subdue" all grew naturally from the core idea of pushing something down or pressing against something to hold it in place.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).
Components
- 扌
- 甲
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
- 押し おし push; pushing
- 押す おす to push; to thrust
- 押収 おうしゅう seizure; confiscation
- 後押し あとおし pushing; support
- 押入れ おしいれ closet (built into the wall, usu. with sliding doors); (built-in) wardrobe
- 押し込む おしこむ to push into; to cram into
- 押し切る おしきる to overcome (opposition); to push past
- 押し入る おしいる to push in; to force into
Reference
- Strokes
- 8
- Kangxi radical
- 64
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #789 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+062BC