Translation guide
Describes a small, slow flow of liquid, or a gradual movement of people or things. Japanese uses different verbs and mimetic words depending on what is trickling and the nuance.
To describe water, tears, sweat, etc. moving slowly and in small amounts.
Used for drops of liquid falling or hanging, like water dripping or tears welling up. Often has a slightly literary or emotional feel.
汗が額から滴り落ちた。
Sweat trickled down from my forehead.
葉から露が滴っている。
Dew is trickling from the leaves.
General verb for liquid flowing down, often in a thin stream. Can be used for tears, rain, etc.
涙が頬を流れ落ちた。
Tears trickled down her cheeks.
Mimetic adverb for a small amount of liquid flowing weakly but continuously, like a thin stream from a tap or a small creek.
水道の水がちょろちょろと流れている。
Water is trickling from the faucet.
Mimetic adverb for liquid dripping in distinct drops, like a leaky faucet or sweat dripping.
蛇口から水がぽたぽた落ちている。
Water is trickling drop by drop from the tap.
Means to hang down or drip; can be used for thick liquids slowly dripping, but often implies something hanging rather than flowing.
ソースが皿の端から垂れている。
Sauce is trickling down the edge of the plate.
To describe a small number of people or items moving slowly and steadily.
The most natural way to express gradual arrival or departure. Use 入る for coming in, 出る for going out.
観客が少しずつ会場に入ってきた。
The audience trickled into the venue.
会議が終わると、人々が少しずつ部屋を出ていった。
After the meeting, people trickled out of the room.
Mimetic adverb for things happening sporadically or in small numbers, like people arriving one after another with gaps.
Mimetic adverb for seeing a few people or things here and there, often used when something is starting to appear gradually.
More formal/literary way to say gradually enter/exit. Less common in casual speech.
情報が徐々に入ってきた。
Information trickled in gradually.
To describe a small, steady flow of income, donations, etc.
General phrase for money or resources gradually coming in.
寄付金が少しずつ入ってきている。
Donations are trickling in.
Implies a meager but continuous income, often with a nuance of barely getting by.
年金が細々と入ってくるだけだ。
Only a trickle of pension comes in.
English 'trickle' is often used metaphorically (trickle of information, trickle-down economics). In Japanese, these are usually expressed with different constructions. Do not directly translate 'trickle' in such cases; instead, use phrases like 少しずつ (little by little) or 徐々に (gradually).
Both are mimetic words for trickling liquid. ちょろちょろ describes a thin, continuous stream (like a small faucet flow), while ぽたぽた describes distinct drops falling (like a leaky faucet). Choose based on whether the flow is continuous or in drops.
汗が背中を一筋流れた。
A trickle of sweat ran down his back.
一筋 (ひとすじ) means a single line/stream, often used for trickling sweat or tears.
小川の流れはちょろちょろと細くなっていた。
The stream had dwindled to a trickle.
客がぽつぽつと集まり始めた。
Customers began to trickle in.
会場には人がちらほらと現れ始めた。
People started to trickle into the venue.