峡 means “gorge, strait”

きょう · kyou

Also: ravine

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

はざま

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

キョウ, コウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 9 strokes

The story

A mountain (山) beside 夹, the squeeze in 挟む: land pinched tight between rock walls. 峡谷 is a gorge, and 海峡 is a strait where the sea squeezes through, like the 関門海峡 between Honshu and Kyushu.

Used in 海峡 (kaikyou, strait) and 峡谷 (kyoukoku, gorge/canyon)

More from Peaks & Caves

• 峰 peak
• 峠 mountain pass
• 坑 pit
• 麓 foot of a mountain
• 窟 cavern
• 塚 mound
• 岳 high mountain
• 丘 hill
• 洞 cave

Learn 峡 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

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