King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “clench”

Romaji: kuishibaru
to clench (one's teeth); to grit; to set; to clamp

In Japanese, clench is , read (kuishibaru).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

  1. v5r, vt to clench (one's teeth); to grit; to set; to clamp

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

eat, food
on: ショク、ジキ
kun: く.う、く.らう、た.べる、は.む
9 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “clench”

WordReadingMeaning
かみあわせる kamiawaseruto clench (one's teeth); to grit
くいあわす kuiawasuto clench
くいしめる kuishimeruto clench (one's teeth); to bite (one's lip)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
しょくじ shokujimeal (e.g. lunch, dinner)
しょくひん shokuhinfood; food products; foodstuffs
たべもの tabemonofood
しょくりょう shokuryoufood
たべる taberuto eat
くう kuuto eat

See also: Chinese symbol for “clench”.

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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