緊 means “tense, tight, urgent”

きん · kin

Also: solid, hard, reliable

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): しめる, しまる
On'yomi (Chinese reading): キン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 15 strokes

The story

A retainer (臣) and a hand (又) over thread (糸): picture a cord pulled taut under a watchful eye. 緊張 is nervous tension, 緊急 an emergency, and 緊急地震速報 is the earthquake alert that blares from every phone in the area.

Used in 緊張 (kinchou, nervousness/tension), 緊急 (kinkyuu, emergency), and 緊迫 (kinpaku, tension, as in a crisis)

緊 means “tense, tight, urgent”

The story

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