Keyword
play
Info
FrequencyTop 500-600
Type
Kyōiku (3rd grade) 
?
KankenLevel 8
Heisig1126
Readings
あそ
(51%)
あす
(31%)
ゆう
(16%)
Composed of
way
cow head
child
road
Mnemonic

A child wearing a fake cow head is playing on the road. "Which way did they go!?" he's asking himself out loud. Apparently he's "it" and is looking for all of the other kids in a weird game of bovine hide-and-seek.

Used in vocabulary (281 in total)
to play (games, sports); to enjoy oneself; to mess about (with alcohol, gambling, philandery, etc.); to be idle; to do nothing; to meet up (with friends); to hang out
playing; play (margin between on and off, gap before pressing button or lever has an effect)
to come and stay; to drop in; to visit
to go on a trip; to go out to play; to go and visit (a friend)
floating; drifting; suspension; (arch.) wandering (about)
game; play; sports
to come and stay; to drop in; to visit
playmate; playfellow
to let (someone) play; to keep (someone) amused; to leave idle; to not make use of; to do; to do
play equipment; playground equipment
to go on a trip; to go out to play; to go and visit (a friend)
raid; military attack by a mobile unit; hit-and-run attack; shortstop; short
nightlife; night amusements
promenade; esplanade
playboy; libertine; (professional) gambler; person without a steady job; idler
prostitute; harlot
playfulness; playful mood; imaginativeness
word game; wordplay; playing with words
bathing (in a lake, river, or in the sea); playing in the water; playing with water
game of make-believe; child's play; pretend play
to visit one place after another without plan or effect; to gallivant about
chasing after women; womanizing
playing with fire; doing something dangerous; (fig.) playing with fire; playing around (with someone); flirting
to jaunt around; to play around; to visit one place after another without effect
extravagant spree; wild merrymaking; living it up
going on a pleasure jaunt
swimming; bathing; getting on in the world
friendship; companionship; fraternity; comradeship
sleepwalking; somnambulism; noctambulism
to tire of playing; to become tired after playing
separation; isolation; extrication; release; isolation
sleepwalker; somnambulist
to jaunt around; to play around; to visit one place after another without effect
(licensed) red light district
foreign travel
studying abroad; travelling to study; traveling to study
playing with balls (e.g. football, playing catch, etc.)
merrymaking (esp. wine and women); pleasures
enjoying oneself on a river (e.g. boating, swimming, fishing)
to spend all of one's time in idle amusement
(circular) tour; round trip; excursion
pilgrimage; travelling around (by a monk)
playing in the sand
to spend all of one's time in idle amusement
sightseeing
excursion; round trip; seasonal migration (of fish, etc.)
reserve corps; flying squadron
(licensed) red light district
pleasure cruise; sightseeing boat; excursion boat
levitation; floating on air; airborne (e.g. bacteria); aero-
excursion; outing; picnic
amusement center (centre); game arcade; gambling hall
cruising; patrolling
pleasure trip; tour
playing in the snow
plaything; playing (with a toy); gambling; activity using hand-gestures (esp. playing games or singing songs)
self-indulgent pleasure
games; pastimes
westward trip; trip to the West
playful; sportive; pleasure-seeking; pleasure seeker; playful person
idler; the unemployed
wandering ghost
suspended particles; floating matter
chasing after men
election tour; election campaign; stumping
playmate; companion; friend to play with
red light district
artistic accomplishments
walk; promenade
to idle away one's time
breechblock (of a gun)
playing in the mud; playing with mud
boating; sailing
migratory fish; straddling fish stocks
nomadic tribe; nomadic people; nomadic race
amusement center (centre); game arcade; gambling hall
to spend all of one's time in idle amusement
guerrilla warfare; unconventional warfare
playful age; heyday of youth
tour round the country (Japan) (visiting from province to province)
playground (for children); park
playing outside
indolence
boating; sailing
the hole (between third and short); area between the third baseman and shortstop
outing; picnic; excursion
play facility; fairground attraction; playground facility; amusement facility
entertainment expenses
to idle away one's time
debauched person
desire for money for one's enjoyment (as an alleged motive for theft, fraud, etc.)
drinking party hall; banquet seat
being entertained by a geisha
game; pastime; recreation; diversion
to grow wild; to run to waste; to become rough (of art, craft, etc.); to lose refinement; to intensify (of wind, rain, etc.); to become more severe
wanderer; traveller; traveler
chivalrous person
someone without a fixed occupation; man of leisure; playboy
playing in the sea
to play with (a toy, one's hair, etc.); to fiddle with; to toy with (one's emotions, etc.); to trifle with; to do with something as one pleases; to appreciate
to jaunt around; to play around; to visit one place after another without effect
sightseer; playboy; frequenter of red-light districts
diversion; pastime
gadding around; gallivanting; tour; wandering; walking aimlessly
making things out of dirt (for fun)
ritual performance (usually around New Year) to pray for a successful rice harvest in the coming year
test-playing (of a video game before release or purchase); playing a demo
music playing in imperial court
to hum (a tune); to sing to oneself; to croon
libertine; man of pleasure
planetary gear; planetary wheel
gathering shellfish, crabs, etc. on the seashore
song and dance performed as an offering to the gods
swinging log; horizontal bar
(private) geisha entertainment; being entertained by one or more geisha (in a tea house or traditional Japanese restaurant)
playing in the mud; playing with mud
playfulness; playful mood; imaginativeness
indoor game; indoor pastime
between short and second; middle
to play outside (out of doors)
former visit
song and dance performed as an offering to the gods
migrating; wandering; plano-; ambulato-
I beg your pardon
in-store video game installation (for customer trials)
living in idleness
stroll garden with a central pond; large garden best enjoyed by walking around it
word game; wordplay; playing with words
being absorbed in self-indulgent pleasures; giving oneself up to debauchery and dissipation
idle; unused; fallow
to play in a group
having fun in groups; swimming in groups; shoaling; forming a shoal
action rhymes; song sung (by children) as part of a game
to grow wild; to run to waste; to become rough (of art, craft, etc.); to lose refinement; to intensify (of wind, rain, etc.); to become more severe
campaign stop; stop on a speaking tour
prank; evil pleasures; gambling
outing (e.g. flower watching, hunting, picking wildflowers); excursion
polite language used by women
style of garden that features a path around a pond
sport fishing boat; sport fisher
playfulness; playful mood; imaginativeness
shimmering of hot air
playground; children's park
excursion boat; pleasure boat
playfulness; playful mood; imaginativeness
anti-flood pond; manmade pond used to prevent flooding
language used in red-light districts during the Edo period
former visit; friend one used to play with; old friend
harlots' kabuki; prostitutes' kabuki
idle funds; idle money
divertimento; divertissement; cassation
(children's) play clothes; playsuit; leisurewear; leisure clothes; sports coat; sportswear
playing with dolls displayed on the Girl's Festival
demo version (of a video game); trial version
gossamer; (arch.) heat haze; (arch.) shimmer of hot air
(private) geisha entertainment; being entertained by one or more geisha (in a tea house or traditional Japanese restaurant)
paint sniffing; thinner sniffing; glue sniffing (huffing)
amusement; diversion (to pass time); pastime; recreation
filled pause (e.g. um, er); filler word
unused facilities or equipment
how to get along in the world; how to get on in life; (lit.) how to swim
merrymaking without paying
navigability; accessibility; ease of getting around; schooling behavior (in fish)
former visit
iridescence; play of color; opalescence
flotation; flotation method
to blow fiercely; to rage; (arch.) to play (a flute, etc.) for fun
ritual performance (usually around New Year) to pray for a successful rice harvest in the coming year
to copulate (animals); to mate
(private) geisha entertainment; being entertained by one or more geisha (in a tea house or traditional Japanese restaurant)
(children's) play clothes; playsuit; leisurewear; leisure clothes; sports coat; sportswear
wandering minstrel
idle money; idle capital
idle funds; idle capital
reaction of free radicals
shortstop error
to let (someone) play; to keep (someone) amused; to entertain; to leave idle; to not make use of; to let go to waste
study hard and play hard
stumping (electioneering) tour
macrophage migration inhibitory factor; MMIF
ne-no-hi-no-asobi; collecting herbs and pulling out young pine trees by the roots (annual event held on the first day of the Rat of the New Year)
seasonal migration (of fish, etc.)
Azuma-asobi (ancient Japanese dance suite that originated in eastern Japan)
Azuma-asobi (ancient Japanese dance suite that originated in eastern Japan)
pleopod; swimmeret
excursion spot; getaway; red-light district; brothel
nationwide election campaign
unused agricultural land; abandoned crop fields; farmland lying fallow
outing to the fields and mountains
children's playground; amusement park for children
amusement; pleasure; recreation; leisure
flotation (mineral processing method)
flotation method (mineral processing)
being entertained by a maiko (geisha apprentice)
straggling hair; loose hairs
vernier; device with a vernier scale
elegant and refined man; wanderer; drifter
free fatty acid; unesterified fatty acid
Examples (200 in total)
You must not play.
Can you find the time to play with our daughter?
Don't play here.