To Bury
To Fill
transitive verb, ichidan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means bury so the verb vocab version is to bury as well.
埋める can also mean to fill, and can refer to filling a hole, vacancy, or gap. Note that this word can be used to refer to filling in figurative holes and gaps too, like a hole in one’s finances!
You learned this reading with the kanji, how nice for you!
However, you might notice that in addition to うめる, there's another reading too: うずめる. うめる is used for the act of burying something or filling in a hole, while うずめる is used when describing the covering or concealment of something, or when burying one's face in something (like a fluffy cat!)
顔を埋める
to bury one’s face
穴を埋める
to fill in a hole
空白を埋める
to fill a blank
死体を埋める
to bury a dead body
赤字を埋める
to make up a deficit
ジェネレーションギャップを埋める
to bridge a generational gap
不安感を埋める
to assuage a feeling of anxiety
穴に埋める
to bury in a hole
中に埋める
to bury inside something
地中に埋める
to bury underground
土に埋める
to bury in dirt
記事の空白はイラストで埋める？それとも広告で？
Should we fill the blank space in the article with an illustration, or with an advertisement?
あの猫のモフモフに顔を埋めたい！
I want to bury my face in that cat's fluffy fur!
学生バイトがあけたシフトの穴を埋めるために、急に来てくれって言われたんです。
I was called in on short notice to fill a shift vacancy left by a part-time student worker.
きっとだれかがもう話をしてると思うんだけど、私達、あの肉屋をあんたの庭に埋めたのさ。良かったかな。
I’m sure someone’s already told you, but we buried the butcher in your yard. I hope you don’t mind.