Japanese word

閉じ込める

Pronunciation

Romajitojikomeru

Meaning

  • verblock up

Example

大雪が私たちを家に閉じ込めました。ō yuki ga watashi ta chi o ie ni to ji ko me ma shi ta

Heavy snow locked us in the house.

Illustration for 閉じ込める (lock up)

More examples

洪水が住民を学校に閉じ込めました。kō zui ga jū min o gak kō ni to ji ko me ma shi ta

The flood trapped the residents in the school.

Core concept

Centers on making someone or something stay inside a bounded place rather than letting it out.

Common phrases

  • 家に閉じ込めるie ni to ji ko me ru

    lock someone in the house

  • 部屋に閉じ込めるheya ni to ji ko me ru

    lock someone in a room

  • 車に閉じ込めるkuruma ni to ji ko me ru

    lock someone in a car

Similar words

監禁するkankinsuru: To confine someone to a place and prevent them from going out, usually intentionally.
封じ込めるfūjikomeru: To keep a person, thing, or force within a limited area and stop it from spreading or escaping.
幽閉するyūheisuru: To keep a person confined in an isolated place, often for a long time by order of an authority.

Definition in Japanese

人や物をある場所の中に入れたまま、外へ出られないようにする。hito ya mono o a ru ba sho no naka ni i re ta ma ma soto e de ra re na i yō ni su ru

Word origin

閉じ込める (tojikomeru) is a native Japanese compound formed from 閉じる (tojiru, "close") and 込める (komeru, "put into"), with the combined sense of keeping something inside.

Usage tips

  • Japanese can use 閉じ込める (tojikomeru) for confinement caused by heavy snow or another circumstance, so the verb does not by itself imply deliberate imprisonment.

Other meanings

  • imprisonverb
  • shut inverb

Opposites

  • 解放するkaihōsurureleaseverb

Word lists with this word