Meaning

Primary

To Well Up

Alternatives

To Gush Forth, To Spring Out, To Surge

Word Type

intransitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means well, so the verb version is to well up.

Reading

わく
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

You're fishing in a hole in the ice when suddenly the water starts to well up and to gush forth out of it. A huge walrus () splashes out and jumps on you. No wonder there weren't any fish! This is a walrus hole.

Context

Context Sentences

悔し涙が湧きました。

Bitter tears welled up.

Kanji Composition