堀 means “moat, canal”

ほり · hori

Also: ditch

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ほり

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

クツ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

Earth (土) beside 屈, to stoop: picture diggers bent double cutting a long ditch. 堀 is a moat or canal, like the お堀 around Tokyo's Imperial Palace, and 外堀を埋める, filling in the outer moat, is clearing the way before your real move.

Used in 堀 (hori, moat), 外堀 (sotobori, outer moat), and 釣り堀 (tsuribori, fishing pond)

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