ditch with running water; drainage channel
Refers to a small, often dirty waterway or drainage ditch, typically in urban or residential areas. Conveys a sense of being unappealing or polluted.
A drainage ditch runs behind the house.
ドブ川の掃除をボランティアで行った。
We volunteered to clean up the drainage channel.
Common hybrid spelling with katakana ドブ and kanji 川.
Hiragana-kana mixed spelling; less common than ドブ川.
Rare kanji spelling; 溝 means 'ditch' and 川 means 'river'.
Compound of どぶ (ditch, gutter) and 川 (river). どぶ is of uncertain origin, possibly related to 溝 (ditch).