Usage patterns 〈 事こと 〉 を 宙ちゅう で 言い う to say something from memory, without looking at notes
He practiced his speech so much he could say it entirely from memory.
〈 物もの 〉 が 宙ちゅう に 消き える for something to vanish into thin air
The ball flew so high it seemed to vanish into thin air.
〈 人ひと 〉 の 手て が 宙ちゅう をつかむ for someone's hand to grasp at empty air
As he fell, his hand grasped at empty air.
Expressions 宙ちゅう に 浮う く float in the air; hover · be up in the air; be unsettled; be undecided 宙ちゅう に 舞ま う tumble through the air; fly up into the air 宙ちゅう を 飛と ぶ fly through the air · run so fast one's feet barely touch the ground Related words 空 primarily means the sky and also appears in the phrase そらで meaning 'from memory,' while 宙 more specifically emphasizes midair or suspended space and is used in 宙で for the same memorized-recitation sense.
宇宙 refers specifically to outer space or the universe, while 宙 is the more general term for open air or midair close to the ground.
暗記 is the act of memorizing something, while 宙で describes performing or reciting it from memory after it has already been memorized.
Word family· 15 universe; cosmos; space
somersault; looping-the-loop
hanging in midair; suspended · aerial stunt; midair stunt
dangling; hanging; suspended · pending; in limbo; indecisive; half done
aerial cartwheel; side aerial; no-handed cartwheel
Show 9 more Show fewer sector of space; space sector
space flight; space travel
backflip; backward somersault
macrocosm; the universe; the cosmos
cosmic tree; world tree
space research; space science research
midair stunt; aerial stunt
deep space
space debris; space junk
See all 15 in Explore →
Written forms 宙ちゅう Usage 96%
Standard kanji form for the reading ちゅう ; common especially in expressions such as 宙に浮く and 宙を舞う .
ちゅう Usage 4%
Etymology A Sino-Japanese noun using the kanji 宙 , conventionally associated with sky, space, and midair. The development of the 'by heart' sense is not certain here, but it parallels the related expression そらで .
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