縛 means “bind, tie up, restrict”

しばる · shibaru

Also: truss, arrest, tie

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

しばる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

バク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 16 strokes

The story

Thread (糸) wound round and round by a hand (寸): binding something tight. 縛る is to tie up or restrict, 束縛 is restraint, and 金縛り, "metal binding", is the Japanese word for waking up unable to move.

Used in 縛る (shibaru, to tie up/bind), 束縛 (sokubaku, restraint), and 金縛り (kanashibari, sleep paralysis)

More from Ropes & Knots

• 結 tie
• 維 fiber
• 締 tighten
• 繰 reel
• 括 bundle
• 綱 rope
• 索 search
• 鎖 chain
• 絞 wring

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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.