spit, skewer
串 centers on piercing and threading things together: a spit or skewer that runs through food, and by extension the act of skewering or piercing through.
串 is a pictograph of a skewer piercing through two objects, represented by the two 口 shapes stacked on a vertical line. The modern form preserves this image clearly.
See the vertical line as a skewer piercing through two pieces of food (the two 口 shapes). 串 is a spit or skewer.
For カン, imagine a can of skewered food: can -> カン, and the skewer pierces through the can's contents.
spit; skewer
kushikatsu; deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables
skewering; skewered food
grilling on a skewer; spit-roasting
branch of a sacred tree (esp. sakaki) with paper or cotton strips attached (used as an offering)
federated search; cross-database search; multi-database search; searching multiple databases at once with a single query
skewered dango
skewering (fish, meat, etc.; for the purpose of grilling)
kushiage; deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables
dried persimmons on a skewer
mackerel skewer
wooden target holder (in archery)
branch of a sacred tree (esp. sakaki) with paper or cotton strips attached (used as a Shinto offering)
curtain pillar; curtain stake
staff to which shide are attached to make a go-hei
skewering horizontally (e.g. fish); skewer with meat skewered on horizontally
federated search
skewer; spit
skewered beef
reverentially offering a branch of the sacred tree