絞 means “wring, squeeze, narrow down”

しぼる · shiboru

Also: strangle, constrict

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

しぼる, しめる, しまる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

コウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 12 strokes

The story

Threads (糸) crossed (交) and twisted tight: picture a wet towel wrung until it drips. 絞る is to wring or squeeze, 絞り込む to narrow a search down, and 絞り is Japan's tie-dye, cloth bound tight before it meets the dye.

Used in 絞る (shiboru, to wring/squeeze), 絞り込む (shiborikomu, to narrow down), and 絞殺 (kousatsu, strangulation)

More from Ropes & Knots

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

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

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