To Bend Down
To Crouch, To Duck, To Squat
intransitive verb, godan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means yield, and 屈む means to bend down or to crouch. After all, bending down and crouching are sort of like yielding to gravity, don’t you think?
屈む refers to the act of lowering your head or body, so it can also mean to duck or to squat depending on the context.
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 always have to bend down to get into your car garage (かが) because you’re just too tall. You have to crouch just to get inside your car garage! Let’s hope you can find a bigger one someday.
屈むと腰が痛いんです。
I get a pain in my lower back when I bend down.
屈んで靴下をはきました。
I bent down and put on my socks.
急に胸が締めつけられているような感覚におそわれ、屈んでしまった。
I suddenly felt a tightening in my chest and leaned over.