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埋める (うずめる) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Common word JLPT N1 Freq. Frequency Top 5,000 Conjugation Meanings 1
ichidan verb, transitive verb
cover ; bury in ; submerge
Used when something is covered over or hidden by being surrounded, buried, or sunk into something else. Common collocations include 顔を両手にうずめる and 雪にうずめる.
うずめ
た
。
The heavy snow buried the small village.
2
ichidan verb, transitive verb
fill completely ; pack ; cram
Used for a space being so fully occupied that it is covered or packed with people or things. Compared with 詰める, it emphasizes the resulting full, covered state rather than the act of packing efficiently.
Written forms 埋うず める Usage 1%
Standard kanji spelling for うずめる, meaning to cover, bury in, or fill completely. The same spelling is also commonly read うめる in a related but broader verb, so kana may be used when the reading needs to be clear.
うずめる Usage 99%
Hiragana spelling is practical when avoiding confusion with 埋める read うめる.
填うず める
Attested kanji variant using 填, a character associated with filling; uncommon in ordinary modern writing for this verb.
Kanji 埋 bury, be filled up, embedded Similar words 埋う める Same kanji but a different common reading; うめる is broader and includes burying something, filling a hole, or making up for a shortage or loss.
埋う まる Intransitive counterpart for becoming buried or filled; 埋める・うずめる is transitive and takes the thing or space being covered or filled as its object.
詰つ める Means to pack, stuff, or close up tightly; it focuses more on pressing things into a container or narrowing a gap, while うずめる focuses on covering or filling a space completely.
Etymology A native Japanese verb written conventionally with 埋, a kanji associated with burying or filling. The variant 填める uses 填, also associated with filling, but is rare for this reading. The precise historical derivation is not specified.
