No. 2,225 in Japanese
絡む
To entangle, intertwine, become involved, or interfere.
In a sentence
猫が毛糸に絡んで遊んでいる。
The cat is tangled in the yarn and playing.
In this sentence, "絡む" is used to describe the physical act of becoming entangled, as the yarn wraps around the cat.
この問題には複雑な要因が絡んでいる。
This issue involves complex factors.
Here, "絡む" metaphorically represents involvement or connection, indicating that factors are intertwined with the issue.
通りで絡んできた見知らぬ人が怖かった。
The stranger who accosted me on the street was scary.
In this case, "絡む" is used to mean an approach or unwanted interference, often with negative or aggressive connotation.
Hear it in real podcasts
The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “絡む” in actual Japanese podcasts.
Find “絡む” in podcastsLearn it from shows you like
LangTurbo plays Japanese podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Learning English?
LangTurbo plays real English podcasts with every line translated into 日本語, and tells you what any word means in that sentence. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Japanese books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).