kakoi-te; covering take
In competitive karuta, a technique for taking a card by covering it with the hand and sweeping it away, often used when the starting syllable (kimariji) is long and the player needs to guard the card before the decisive syllable is read.
See also: 大山札 (おおやまふだ) · 決まり字
For cards with long kimariji, the kakoi-te technique is effective.
He took the card before his opponent using a covering take.
Compound of 囲い (kakoi, 'enclosing' or 'covering') and 手 (te, 'hand' or 'technique'), literally 'enclosing hand/technique'. The term is specific to competitive karuta.