Japanese word

繰り広げる

Pronunciation

Romajikurihirogeru

Meaning

  • verbunfold

Example

学生たちは授業で活発な議論を繰り広げます。gaku sei ta chi wa ju gyō de kap patsu na gi ron o ku ri hiro ge ma su

The students engage in a lively discussion in class.

Illustration for 繰り広げる (unfold)

More examples

専門家たちは番組で活発な議論を繰り広げました。sen mon ka ta chi wa ban gumi de kap patsu na gi ron o ku ri hiro ge ma shi ta

The experts engaged in a lively discussion on the program.

Core concept

Presents an event, activity, or scene as spreading outward while its details unfold.

Common phrases

  • 議論を繰り広げるgi ron o ku ri hiro ge ru

    engage in a discussion

  • 戦いを繰り広げるtataka i o ku ri hiro ge ru

    wage a battle

Similar words

展開するtenkaisuru: To develop an event, activity, or scene through a connected sequence of actions.

Definition in Japanese

物事を広げるようにして、次々と展開する。mono goto o hiro ge ru yō ni shi te tsugi tsugi to ten kai su ru

Word origin

繰り広げる (kurihirogeru) combines 繰る (kuru, "wind or reel") with 広げる (hirogeru, "spread wide"), giving the compound a sense of unrolling something across a wider space.

Usage tips

  • Japanese often uses 繰り広げる (kurihirogeru) for battles and competitions, where English commonly uses unfold even though the Japanese expression treats the event as something actively staged.

Other meanings

  • unrollverb
  • spread outverb

Word lists with this word