expression:

• better to be the beak of a rooster than the rump of a bull; better to be the leader of a small group than a subordinate in a large organization; better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond - four character idiom

expression / godan ~う verb:

• to make up a shortfall; to cover a shortage; to compensate for a shortage; to fill a gap

interjection:

• heigh-hoh; heave-ho
• hold on!; just a minute
• used as a meaningless word in a song for rhythm

expression:

• half a loaf is better than none; even a dead tree adds to the interest of a mountain [literal] - proverb

noun:

• love call; calling out to someone with love or good will
• phone call to a loved one
• fervent request; heartfelt appeal; passionate call to action

noun:

• placing ropes or wires around trees to protect them from the snow; ropes stretched from the top of a tree to the lower branches to prevent their breaking under heavy snow ➜ 雪折れ

noun:

• external character; user-defined character; character not included in the JIS character set - IT term
• kanji not included in the jōyō or jinmeiyō list ➜ 常用漢字・人名用漢字
• foreign letters (esp. of a western language); foreign writing

noun / ~する noun / ~の noun:

• cooking for oneself; cooking one's own food; doing one's own cooking; making food oneself; self-catering
• scanning a book or magazine to create an ebook by oneself

expression:

• take a long walk off a short pier; go stick your head in a pig; bash your head against the corner of a block of tofu and die [literal]

ichidan verb / transitive:

• to distinguish; to recognize; to recognise; to tell apart; to differentiate (both figuratively and visually)
• to identify (whether an object is positive or negative in some aspect); to know the difference between something of superior and inferior quality (on sight or figuratively)

expression / ichidan verb:

• to put one's palms together (e.g. when praying or asking for something); to place one's hands together
• to compete against somebody; to play (a game, match, etc.) against somebody - idiom

noun:

• striking sparks with flint and steel or by rubbing sticks together (usu. to start a fire); fire lit by sparks from flint and steel, etc. ➜ 鑽る
• Shinto fire-purification ceremony - Shintō term

expression / godan ~つ verb:

• to play a trick; to put up a false show; to deceive someone
• to put on a play; to present a play; to give a play - original meaning

noun:

• penitence by chanting sutras; confession (of sins); Tendai ritual of chanting Lotus Sutra or to Kanzeon, Amida, or Kichijoten for forgiveness of sins performed unknowingly - Buddhism term

noun / suffix noun:

• penitence sutra - Buddhism term

noun:

• guidebook to penitence - Buddhism term

noun:

• a verse (e.g. in the Bible); stanza; paragraph; passage; a joint; section; a tune; note; strain; measure

expression:

• a friend is a good thing to have; a good friend is a great blessing

expression:

• a friend is a good thing to have; a good friend is a great blessing ➜ 持つべきものは友

godan ~る verb / transitive:

• to demarcate; to delimit; to divide (an area); to mark off; to cut off - esp. 区切る
• to punctuate; to put an end to (e.g. a sentence); to insert pauses or breaks (e.g. when reading aloud) - esp. 句切る

noun:

• adoration which is performed three times or repeatedly; act of worship which is performed three times or repeatedly

expression / ichidan verb:

• to greet; to call out (to); to start talking (to)
• to invite; to get in touch (with); to give a shout (to); to let (somebody) know (one is in the area or has time to meet, etc.)
• to cheer (on); to give vocal support (to)

godan ~る verb / intransitive verb:

• to complain of itching; to be bothered by an itch (or rash, etc.); to feel itchy; to have an itch (or rash, etc.); to itch

noun:

• a snipe and a clam; a snipe and a mussel ➜ 鷸蚌の争い

noun:

• salt pan (used for boiling seawater to make salt)
• cooking a fish inside a salt crust - abbreviation ➜ 塩釜焼き
• candy made with a wrapping of sweetened rice flour (looking like a salt crust)

noun:

• street performance by itinerant entertainers featuring a tumbling act in which a child performer wears a carved lion's head

noun:

• incarcerating a criminal in a temple as a form of punishment (popular during the latter Muromachi and Azuchi-Momoyama periods) - obscure term ➜ 寺入り