Kanji1 / 2
刀 kanji
sword, saber, knife
- JLPT level
- N1 (unofficial)
- First appears in
- N3 vocabulary
- Strokes
- 2
- School grade
- Grade 2 (elementary school)
On readings
トウ
Kun readings
かたなそり
Variant forms
刂釖Words with 刀
LevelWord & meaningActions
- —抜刀隊squad of swordsmen; unit armed with drawn swords; Battōtai; special police unit of swordsmen during the Satsuma Rebellion (1877)
- —新々刀shinshintō; katana forged from the late 18th century up until the sword abolishment edict
- —一刀彫りone-knife carving
- —一刀両断cutting in two with a single stroke; taking decisive action; dealing with decisively; cutting the (Gordian) knot
- —快刀乱麻solving a problem swiftly and skillfully
- —単刀直入straight to the point; point-blank; frank; direct
- —刀筆の吏minor official
- —両刀使いdouble-sword fencing; two-sword fencer; being skilled in two fields; (an) expert in two fields; liking both alcohol and sweets; person who likes alcohol and sweets equally well; bisexual (person)
- —長刀一枝one long sword
- —割鶏牛刀using a meat ax when a knife would suffice; taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut; using a grand-scale measure (a massive instrument) to deal with an insignificant problem
- —弓馬刀槍archery, horsemanship, spearsmanship, and swordsmanship; martial arts in general
- —帯刀御免a non-samurai being granted the privilege of wearing a sword (during the Edo period)
- —苗字帯刀right to bear a surname and to wear a sword (during the Edo period)
- —一足一刀distance in sword combat where approaching one more step allows hitting one's opponent
- —両刀論法dilemma
- —刀を帯びるto wear a sword
- —伝家の宝刀one's last resort; trump card; treasured family sword
- —天下の宝刀one's last resort; trump card
- —北辰一刀流Hokushin Ittō-ryū (school of swordsmanship founded by Chiba Shūsaku ca. 1820)
- —快刀乱麻を断つto cut the Gordian knot