expression / ichidan verb:

• to find an excuse; to rationalize; to find a pretext

expression / godan ~す verb:

• to have a heart to heart talk; to speak frankly ➜ 腹を割って話す【はらをわってはなす】

noun:

• needle; pin ➜ 鍼
• hook ➜ 鉤【かぎ】・釣り針【つりばり】
• stinger; thorn
• hand (e.g. clock, etc.); pointer
• staple (for a stapler)
• needlework; sewing ➜ 御針
• malice

counter / suffix noun:

• counter for stitches

noun:

• gloss; luster; lustre; shine; sheen; polish
• mellowness (of a voice); youthfulness (e.g. of skin)
• interest; appeal; charm; color; colour; feeling
• romance; love; sexiness

counter:

• counter for the ichi-ni-san counting system (usu. directly preceding the item being counted); a noun read using its on-yomi

noun / suffix noun:

• popularity; favour; favor; reception

noun:

• defense; defence; reputation
• agreement
• receiver of technique (e.g. in martial arts)
• submissive partner of a homosexual relationship - often abbr. 凹 on gay SNS sites - usually written using kana alone - colloquialism ➜ 猫・攻め・タチ

noun:

• enclosure; fence; wall; pen; paling
• storage (of fruit, vegetables, etc.)
• partitioned area of a room for conducting tea ceremonies
• mistress - abbreviation ➜ 囲い者
• castle; strong defensive position - Shōgi term

noun / ~する noun:

• rendezvous; meeting; assignation

noun:

• area where guests gather before the start of a tea ceremony
• waiting room - abbreviation ➜ 待合室【まちあいしつ】
• meeting place for assignations, drinking, etc. - archaism - abbreviation ➜ 待合茶屋【まちあいぢゃや】

expression:

• fighting (tilting at) windmills; working oneself up even though there really isn't anything to fight at - four character idiom
• single-person mimicking a wrestling match

noun:

• draining basket (traditionally made of bamboo); colander; strainer; sieve
• something full of holes ➜ ざる法【ざるほう】
• zaru soba - abbreviation ➜ ざる蕎麦
• strong drinker; someone who can drink like a fish - colloquialism

noun:

• totally useless (fruitless) effort; wasting time on an impossible task (like trying to scoop up a reflected moon from the bottom of the sea) - four character idiom

noun:

• Naso (genus of tropical marine surgeonfishes in the family Acanthuridae known as unicorn fishes due to a spike protruding from the forehead)

noun:

• 49th, 51st, 52nd, 54th, 56th, 57th, 58th or 60th day of the sexagenary cycle (said to be inauspicious with a high probability of rain) ➜ 間日【まび】

noun:

• painting representing reeds around water with rocks, grass or birds made using characters (Heian period)
• characters written in a way inspired from that style

noun:

• new single (by a recording artist)
• person of marriageable age who remains single (e.g. to focus on their career) - From English

noun:

• elegance; grace; refinement; class; dignity

suffix:

• article; item

suffix / counter:

• counter for items (of food, etc.); counter for dishes or courses (at a restaurant) - sometimes pronounced ぴん

~する noun:

• to master (a skill)

noun:

• proprietor; manager; owner; barkeeper
• leader; chief; head
• master (of arts, science, etc.)
• master (recording)
• master (device) ➜ スレーブ

noun:

• cut end; edge (of a page, etc.)
• small amount; small sum Antonym: 大口【おおぐち】
• beginning; clue
• tiger's den; jaws of death; dangerous place ➜ 虎口

noun:

• phenomime; mimetic word; word that mimics an action, condition, or manner that does not make a sound (e.g. "damp", "calmly") - e.g., じめじめ、ゆったり - Linguistics term

noun / ~する noun:

• writing with the brush in one's mouth

noun:

• foreword; preface
• affidavit; written confession (of a commoner in the Edo period)

noun / ~する noun / ~の noun:

• rumination; regurgitation; chewing the cud

noun / ~する noun:

• turning over in one's mind; thinking over something; pondering; musing; rumination (about a subject)

expression:

• necessity is the mother of invention; there is always some way out of a difficulty if you really look for one - proverb

noun:

• putting on a brave face; put-on cheeriness; pretending one is fine; show of courage; bravado; Dutch courage

noun:

• girl who has led a sheltered life; pet daughter; naive girl; ingénue
• wooden block puzzle; Daughter in the Box; Klotski

expression / godan ~う verb:

• to live on air
• to derive nourishment from an elemental portion of mist or fog (the goal of a mountain ascetic) ➜ 仙人