To Be Stuffed With
To Be Crammed Full, To Be Stuck, To Be Clogged
intransitive verb, godan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. Remember how 詰める means "to stuff in"? Well, this is the intransitive version that focuses on the thing being stuffed, so it means to be stuffed with or to be crammed full. You can remember this because your pillow is stuffed with まる the cat's hair. It's filled almost to bursting with bits of まる, making it extremely soft and comfy.
Like your まる-stuffed pillow, 詰まる is used when something completely fills up a space, whether it's a wallet packed with bills (you wish), a book filled with tons of useful information, or a schedule full of to-dos. It can also mean to be stuck or to be clogged, so you can use it if something gets stuck in your throat, or even when your toilet is clogged.
This word uses the reading you learned with the kanji!
鼻が詰まる
nose is congested
トイレが詰まる
toilet is clogged
スケジュールが詰まる
schedule is packed
紙が詰まる
paper gets stuck, something is filled with paper
ゴミが詰まる
trash gets stuck, something is filled with trash
言葉に詰まる
to be at a loss for words
ノドに詰まる
something gets stuck in the throat, to choke
毛穴に詰まる
something clogs the pores
血管に詰まる
something blocks the blood vessels
完全に詰まる
something gets completely clogged
えっ「流せるトイレブラシ」って名前なのに、詰まることもあるんですか？
Wait, even though it's called a "flushable toilet brush," it can still clog the toilet?
今日はやることが詰まっていて、とても忙しい。
Today is packed with things to do, so I'm really busy.
外に出るとアレルギーで鼻が詰まるけど、家にいると息が詰まるんだよね。
When I go outside my nose gets stuffed up because of my allergies, but when I'm in the house I feel stifled.
魚の骨が喉に詰まっちゃった。
A fish bone got stuck in my throat.