かま

See also: がま

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
鎌

鎌 (kama): a traditional Japanese sickle.

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) か​ま [káꜜmà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ma̠]

Noun

かま • (kama) ^{←かま (kama)?}

1. a sickle
   • 1999 February 4, “ダークキラー [Dark Killer]”, in Vol.1, Konami:

     カマのように発(はっ)達(たつ)した腕(うで)を振(ふ)り回(まわ)し攻(こう)撃(げき)してくる。

     Kama no yō ni hattatsu shita ude o furimawashi kōgeki shitekuru.

     It attacks with its arms, which have grown like sickles.

2. a sickle-shaped weapon, such as a polearm with a sickle-shaped blade, or a 鎖鎌 (kusarigama)
   • 1999 July 5, “音(オト)女(メ)”, in Booster 3, Konami:

     音(おと)を扱(あつか)うのが得(とく)意(い)なオトメ。音(おん)符(ぷ)のカマを使(つか)い攻(こう)撃(げき)する。

     Oto o atsukau no ga tokui na otome. Onpu no kama o tsu kai kōgeki suru.

     A maiden proud of her ability to manipulate sound. She attacks with her musical-note-shaped scythe.

3. short for 火打鎌 (hiuchigama): a striker for lighting fires (from the way that pieces of a broken kama blade were used for this purpose)
4. (slang) a perverse or bent tendency or way of thinking (from the way a kama blade bends)
5. (slang) a person with a perverse or bent tendency or way of thinking
6. a category of 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) featuring a sickle
7. (woodworking) short for 鎌継ぎ (kamatsugi): a hammer-headed tenon (from the way the sickle blade sticks out perpendicular to the handle, similar to the sides of the hammer head on this kind of tenon)
8. (slang) excessive talkativeness (probably by sound association with the word 喧しい (yakamashii, “noisy”))
9. (slang) an excessively talkative person
10. (slang) a penis (probably from the way that a sickle blade sticks out perpendicular to the handle)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 鎌(かま)槍(やり) (kamayari): a kind of polearm with a sickle-shaped blade
• 大(おお)鎌(がま) (ōgama): a scythe
• 鎖(くさり)鎌(がま) (kusarigama): a sickle chain, a kind of weapon
• 草(くさ)刈(か)り鎌(がま) (kusakarigama): a sickle for mowing grass

Idioms

Idioms

• 鎌(かま)が切(き)れる (kama ga kireru): “the sickle cuts well” → to do things with authority, to get things sorted quickly and efficiently, to do things crisply and tidily
• 鎌(かま)を掛(か)ける (kama o kakeru): “to apply the sickle” → to get something out of a person without them being aware (compare English to glean); to tempt someone, to draw someone out
• 鎌(かま)に掛(か)かる (kama ni kakaru): “to be caught by a sickle” → to be taken in by someone, to be fooled or tricked

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) か​ま [káꜜmà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ma̠]

Noun

かま • (kama) ^{←かま (kama)?}

1. area of a fish around the gills

Derived terms

• ぶりかま (burikama): a dish prepared from the head of 鰤 (buri, “Japanese amberjack”)

Etymology 3

Alternative spellings
釜 窯 竃 竈 缶

From Old Japanese, signifying a container for high heat and referring variously to a hearth, oven, pot, kettle; in turn from Proto-Japonic *kama. Possibly cognate with Korean 가마 (gama, “kiln; oven”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かま [kàmá] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ma̠]

Noun

かま • (kama) ^{←かま (kama)?}

1. 釜: a rice-cooker
2. 窯: a kiln, an oven
3. 竃, 竈: a kitchen range
4. 缶: a boiler, as for a steam engine

Synonyms

• (boiler): ボイラー (boirā)