King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “gasp”

Romaji: aegu
to gasp; to pant; to breathe hard

In Japanese, gasp is , read (aegu).

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. v5g, vi to gasp; to pant; to breathe hard
  2. v5g, vi to suffer; to struggle

Kanji and stroke order

pant, gasp, breathe hard
on: ゼン、セン
kun: あえ.ぐ、せき
12 strokes

Other Japanese words for “gasp”

WordReadingMeaning
ハァハァ haahaagasp; pant
いきづく ikizukuto breathe (heavily); to pant; to gasp
いきのした ikinoshitagasp
いきをはずませる ikiohazumaseruto pant; to gasp; to be short of breath
いきせききる ikisekikiruto pant (while rushing); to gasp; to puff and blow

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ぜんそく zensokuasthma
あえぎ aegigasping; puffing; wheezing
ぜんめい zenmeistridor; wheezing; noisy breathing
よぜん yozenlingering life; feeble existence; brink of ruin
しょうにぜんそく shounizensokuinfantile asthma

See also: Chinese symbol for “gasp”.

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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