塞 means “block, plug, fortress”

ふさぐ · fusagu

Also: close, shut, cover

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): ふさぐ, とりで, みちる
On'yomi (Chinese reading): ソク, サイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

Picture bricks stacked in rows under a roof (宀) and packed down with earth (土): a gap sealed tight. 塞ぐ is to plug or block, 閉塞感 is the stuck, going-nowhere feeling of hard times, 要塞 is a fortress, and 脳梗塞 is a stroke caused by a blocked artery.

Used in 塞ぐ (fusagu, to block/plug), 閉塞 (heisoku, blockage/stagnation), and 要塞 (yousai, fortress)

塞 means “block, plug, fortress”

The story

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