Meaning

Primary

To Urge

Alternatives

To Coerce, To Press, To Draw Near

Word Type

transitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means urge so the verb vocab version is to urge.

Reading

せまる
  • 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: Are you trying to urge me to do that? Are you trying to coerce me to do that? Which one is it? It's all semantics (せま)!

Context

Context Sentences

彼に金を返すよう迫ったが、逃げられてしまった。

I pressed him to pay back the money, but he ran away.

Kanji Composition