Meaning

Primary

To Spill Something

Alternatives

To Drop Something, To Shed Tears

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 zero, but the verb vocab version means to spill something or to drop something. Think of it this way, if you spill something, eventually it will reach zero.

Reading

こぼす
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Imagine you're co-boiling (こぼ) water with someone. With the two of you co-boiling, the water is boiling pretty hard. Watch out, though — you're about to spill the hot water everywhere!

Context

Context Sentences

「あんた、今カーペットに珈琲を零したでしょう?」「しまった!ごめん!」「ごめんで済んだら警察はいらないわよ!」

"Did you just spill coffee on the carpet?" "Oh no! Sorry." "If sorry fixed everything, we wouldn’t need the police!"

Kanji Composition