つぶ

Japanese

For pronunciation and definitions of つぶ – see the following entries.

【粒】S [noun] something round and small, such as a drop of grain or a bead [noun] the seed of a grain [noun] a black, hard seed obtained from the skin of a soapnut tree [noun] Synonym of 無患子 (mukuroji, “Indian soapberry (Sapindus mukoross)”) [noun] a small change of coins [noun] the bead of an abacus [noun] a person or thing who makes up a larger group of such [noun] a beat of a percussion instrument during performances such as noh and nagauta [noun] a wig used in kabuki plays whose chignon is small and round [noun] Synonym of 螺 (tsubu, “pond snail”, now dialectal) [noun] (slang, gambling) dice; die [counter] used to count things that are round and small, such as seeds and pills [counter] (historical, Edo period) used to count 一分金 (ichibukin, “a currency equivalent to 1/4 of a 両 (ryō)”)

【螺】J [noun] spiral shellfish, especially smaller ones [noun] edible marine whelks of family Buccinidae [noun] alternate name for 田螺 (tanishi): river snails of family Viviparidae

(This term, つぶ (tsubu), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as つぶ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as つぶ.)