部
Components

爪 means 'claw'

Animation / stroke order not available.
CHALLENGE
DRAW
Strokes : 4    Radical number: 87    Frequency: 1796   JLPT: N1    Ring: 6    Set: 14    Grade: 8   Intermediate lesson: -    Beginner lesson: -   Begins 40 words   Used in 63 words   Used in 127 names   Component in 7 kanji (2 Jōyō)
Jōyō (常用)
Common readings
Kun
   つめ    claw; fingernail
Additional readings
On    ソウ
Kun    つま-
Variants
爫   㕚   ⺤  
Notes
often use this as a verb in mnemonics, as in 'claw in'
Delving into the 爪 kanji introduces you to rich idiomatic expressions about a wide range of things: following in people's footsteps, not showing off, preparing to defeat opponents, saving money (sometimes to extremes), and bearing scars after traumas. This new addition to the Joyo set is a prevalent radical that's useful to know, but the variants can be hard to recognize unless you've learned what they are.
Essay 2071 on 爪 (nail, claw; "claw" radical) covers this prevalent shape, which serves as the on-duty radical in 爵 (1344: rank of nobility) and as a component in 菜 (483: vegetable), to name just two examples of places you wouldn't expect to see claws!
See also
瓜 melon  
My Kanji mastery
LOG IN to view kanji mastery data
My flashcards
LOG IN to view your flashcards
Most useful words by reading
In the most useful 10,000 words in Japanese, 爪 is used 1 time, read 1 way.
Across all words in Japanese, 爪 is used 62 times, read 3 ways (with 1 variation).
ソウ : 5 words FIND ALL
noun
1. claws and fangs; claws and tusks
2. clutches; devious design; means of causing harm; weapon
(click the word to view an additional 2 meanings)
TEST
つめ : 31 words FIND ALL
noun
1. nail (e.g. fingernail, toenail); claw; talon; hoof
2. plectrum; pick
(click the word to view an additional 1 meaning)
2
3
TEST
つま- (read as つま) : 15 words FIND ALL
noun
toes; tips of the toes; toe of a shoe, sock, etc.
(click the word to view an additional 2 forms)
6
TEST
つめ (read as づめ) : 11 words FIND ALL
noun
nail (e.g. fingernail, toenail)  (see also: 鉤爪)
(click the word to view an additional 1 form)
TEST
Quick links
QUICK SEARCH WORD SEARCH KANJI SEARCH COMPONENT SEARCH Find kanji that refer to 爪
More information
Wiktionary ⇗ | Unicode.org ⇗ | Google Japan ⇗
Additional data
Henshall: -  Joy o' Kanji : 2071  Key to Kanji: - 

Cascading kanji view

爪
claw   つめ    
Problem with this kanji? Question or comment? Please CONTACT US.
Search results include information from a variety of sources, including Kanshudo (kanji mnemonics, kanji readings, kanji components, vocab and name frequency data, grammar points), JMdict (vocabulary), Tatoeba (examples), Enamdict (names), KanjiVG (kanji animations and stroke order), and Joy o' Kanji (kanji and radical synopses). Translations provided by Google's Neural Machine Translation engine. For more information see credits.
×
Change component list
By default the component builder shows the most common components (themselves joyo kanji, or used in at least 3 other joyo kanji). Select an alternative set of components below.



Full details of all components and their English names can be found here.
Help with the component builder
For detailed instructions, see the Component builder how to guide.
To find any kanji, first try to identify the components it is made up of.
For any components you recognize, if you know the English meaning or name, start typing it in the text area. Full details of all components and their English names can be found here.
Alternatively, count the strokes of the component, and scan the list to find it visually.
Example
To find the kanji 漢:
  • Notice that it is made of several components: 氵 艹 口 夫.
  • 氵 艹 口 all have three strokes, so you could look in the list in the 3 stroke section. 夫 has four strokes.
  • Alternatively, you could start typing 'water' (氵), 'grass' (艹), 'mouth' (口) or 'husband' (夫) in the search area, and the components will be highlighted in yellow.
  • Keep adding components until you can see your kanji in the list of matches that appears near the top.