noun:

• the Big Dipper (asterism); the Plough; the Plow - Astronomy term ➜ 北斗星

noun:

• the Big Dipper (asterism); the Plough; the Plow - Astronomy term ➜ 北斗七星

noun:

• the head; the foremost; beginning; the very front

noun:

• the Big Dipper (asterism); the Plough; the Plow - abbreviation - Astronomy term ➜ 北斗七星

noun:

• the Big Dipper (asterism); the Plough; the Plow - archaism - Astronomy term ➜ 北斗七星

noun:

• kanji in which one element suggests the meaning, the other the pronunciation

expression:

• the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence - proverb ➜ 隣の芝生は青い

noun:

• Japanese babylon (species of shelled mollusk, Babylonia japonica); Japanese ivory shell
• spinning top (traditionally made from a Japanese babylon shell) - abbreviation ➜ 貝独楽

expression / adverb:

• at precisely this moment; at precisely that moment; just then; just when

noun:

• cicadas that sing when autumn comes ➜ 秋蝉
• cicadas that sing even in autumn

expression / godan ~す verb:

• to throw the baby out with the bath water; to strain at a gnat and swallow a camel; to obsess over insignificant details and miss the larger point; to straighten the horns and kill the cow [literal] - idiom

expression:

• the law has holes large enough for the most wicked men to slip through; the long arm of the law doesn't reach everywhere; fishes big enough to eat boats aren't caught by the net [literal] - proverb

noun:

• room or pavilion of residence for the master of the house (Heian period palatial-style architecture) ➜ 寝殿造
• room where the emperor usually lives in the imperial palace

noun / ~する noun:

• finishing (a race); running the whole distance; reaching the goal; staying the course

expression:

• the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence - proverb

noun / ~の noun:

• conveying the will of the governing to the governed; top-down (system) - four character idiom

noun:

• "before the spirit of the deceased" (written on the condolence-money envelope)

noun:

• restoring the declining fortunes; recovering from the discouraging situation; reversing the downward trend - four character idiom

noun:

• waist (the part of the pants located above the crotch); pant rise

noun / ~の noun:

• bones of the palm (esp. the metacarpals, but sometimes also including the carpals) - obscure term ➜ 中手骨

noun:

• the first rain to fall between the late autumn and the early winter - archaism

adjectival noun / noun:

• sure; certain; positive; definite
• reliable; trustworthy; safe; sound; firm; accurate; correct; exact

adverb:

• If I'm not mistaken; If I remember correctly; If I remember rightly

expression:

• the proof of the pudding is in the eating; the proof is in the pudding; don't knock it till you've tried it - proverb

noun:

• not folding on a stitch but placing the fold (2mm) deeper past the stitch, folding the excess back to cover the stitch

interjection:

• va-va-vroom (esp. fast cars or bikes, sexy women or men); va-voom; vrrrm - onomatopoeia ➜ ぶるん
• sound of animal shaking its fur to dry off after getting wet (esp. dogs) - onomatopoeia