一いち縷る

noun

slightest connection; sliver (of hope)

Used in literary or formal contexts to describe a very faint, slender, or barely perceptible thread of something, often hope, connection, or life. Common in set phrases like 一縷の望み (a ray of hope) or 一縷の望みもない (not even a glimmer of hope).

• 彼かれは一いち縷るの望のぞみを捨すてなかった。

  He did not give up even a sliver of hope.

• 生せい存ぞん者しゃとの一いち縷るのつながりも途と絶だえた。

  Even the slightest connection with the survivors was lost.

noun

one thread

Original literal meaning: a single thread. Now rare and mostly encountered in classical or explanatory contexts. In modern Japanese, the figurative sense (sense 1) is dominant.

• 「一いち縷る」は文も字じ通どおりには一いっ本ぽんの糸いとを指さすが、現げん代だいでは比ひ喩ゆ的てきに使つかわれることが多おおい。

  Literally, 一縷 means a single thread, but in modern usage it is mostly used figuratively.