命いのちからがら

い

の

ち

か

ら

が

ら

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

adverb

for dear life; barely escaping alive

Describes a desperate escape or survival, often with the nuance of just barely making it out alive. Used adverbially with verbs like 逃げる, 助かる, etc.

彼かれは火か事じの中なかから命いのちからがら逃にげ出だした。
He barely escaped from the fire with his life.
命いのちからがら戦せん場じょうを離

はな

れ

た

兵へい

士し

たち

は

、

二に

度ど

と

戻もど

り

たく

なかっ

た

。

The soldiers who barely escaped the battlefield with their lives never wanted to return.

Written forms

命いのちからがら
Standard spelling; the kanji 命 is commonly used.
命いのち辛から々がら
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; the characters 辛々 are ateji.

Kanji

命fate, command, decree
辛spicy, bitter, hot

Similar words

必ひっ死しに
必死に means 'desperately' or 'with all one's might,' focusing on effort, while 命からがら emphasizes the outcome of barely surviving.
間かん一いっ髪ぱつ
間一髪 means 'by a hair's breadth' and focuses on a narrow escape from danger, but does not inherently imply a life-threatening situation.

Etymology

The word is a compound of 命 (life) and 辛辛 (からがら), an old reduplicated form meaning 'barely' or 'with difficulty.' The exact origin of からがら is uncertain, but it may be related to the adverb からくも (barely).