godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
Basic physical sense: move a hand, head, tail, bat, tool, etc. back and forth or through an arc.
駅で友達に手を振った。
I waved to my friend at the station.
バットを大きく振っ
He swung the bat hard, but did not hit the ball.
彼は黙って首を横に振った。
He silently shook his head no.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
sprinkle; shake on; throw dice
Used when scattering something by a shaking motion, especially seasonings, and also for throwing or rolling dice.
焼き魚に塩を軽く振る。
Sprinkle a little salt on the grilled fish.
さいころを振って順番を決めた。
We rolled dice to decide the order.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
assign; cast; allocate; substitute
Used for giving a role, part, job, slot, or resource to someone or something. It can also imply reassigning or substituting one person, project, or slot for another.
監督は新人俳優に主役を振った。
The director cast a new actor in the lead role.
急ぎの仕事を同僚に振った。
I passed the urgent work on to a coworker.
空いた枠を別の企画に振った。
They reassigned the open slot to another project.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
reject someone; turn down; dump; jilt
Especially common for romantic rejection: turning down a confession, ending a relationship, or dumping a partner. The passive 振られる is very common.
彼女は長年付き合った相手を振った。
She dumped the partner she had dated for years.
告白したが、あっさり振られた。
I confessed my feelings, but was flatly turned down.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
throw away; give up; ruin; waste
Most safely learned through the fixed idiom ～を棒に振る, meaning to waste, throw away, or ruin something valuable such as a chance, career, or future.
くだらない賭けで将来を棒に振るな。
Do not throw away your future over a stupid bet.
彼は一度の不祥事でキャリアを棒に振った。
He ruined his career with a single scandal.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
add furigana; add reading kana
Writing and typography use, as in 読み仮名を振る or ルビを振る: add kana beside or above kanji to show how they are read.
See also: 振り仮名
難しい漢字には読み仮名を振ってください。
Please add reading kana to the difficult kanji.
子ども向けの本なので、すべての漢字にルビを振った。
Because it was a children's book, we added ruby readings to all the kanji.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
turn slightly; shift direction; pan
Used for changing the direction, angle, heading, or orientation of something, often only slightly; common with camera or stage-direction-like contexts.
カメラを少し右に振って、建物全体を入れてください。
Pan the camera a little to the right and get the whole building in the shot.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
bring up a topic; direct a question or topic to someone
Common in conversation, meetings, and hosting: introduce a subject or pass the conversational turn, topic, or question to someone.
会議の最後に、部長が予算の話を振った。
At the end of the meeting, the manager brought up the budget.
司会者はゲストに次の質問を振った。
The host directed the next question to the guest.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
carry vigorously; swing while carrying
Festival use, especially with 神輿: the bearers carry and vigorously sway or toss the portable shrine as part of the performance.
祭りの若者たちは神輿を左右に振って練り歩いた。
The young people at the festival paraded while swinging the portable shrine from side to side.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
set up a joke; feed someone a comic prompt
Comedy and entertainment use: prompt another performer so they can deliver a joke, boke, punch line, or comic response.
彼は相方にボケを振って、客席を笑わせた。
He set his partner up for a joke and made the audience laugh.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
decoct; prepare an infusion; extract by heating
Rare or specialized old-style use for extracting something by heating, broiling, or decocting, such as in medicinal or preparation contexts; not a common modern standalone use for learners.
古い薬方の説明では、薬草を振るという表現が「煎じる」の意味で出てくることがある。
In old medicinal instructions, the expression 薬草を振る can appear with the meaning of decocting herbs.