歯は車ぐるまが噛かみ合あわない

Meanings

1

expression, i-adjective

not meshing; not seeing eye to eye

Metaphorical expression derived from gears not engaging. Used for people, teams, or organizations that fail to work together smoothly or have conflicting views.

あの二人ふたりはどうも歯は車ぐるまが噛かみ合あわないみたいだ。
Those two just don't seem to see eye to eye.
新あたらしい上じょう司しとは歯は車ぐるまが噛

か

み

合あ

わ

なく

て

、

仕し

事ごと

が

進すす

ま

ない

。

I don't mesh with the new boss, so work isn't progressing.

Written forms

歯は車ぐるまが噛かみ合あわない
Standard kanji spelling using the common 噛 kanji for 'mesh'.
歯は車ぐるまがかみ合あわない
Variant with かみ in kana; less common but still encountered.

Kanji

歯tooth, cog
車car
合fit, suit, join
噛chew, bite, gnaw

Similar words

噛かみ合あう
The positive verb meaning 'to mesh' or 'to get along'. 歯車が噛み合わない is its negative form used as a set phrase.
そりが合あわない
Another idiom for not getting along, but そりが合わない focuses more on personality clashes, while 歯車が噛み合わない emphasizes a lack of functional cooperation.

Etymology

From 歯車 (gear) + が + 噛み合わない (negative of 噛み合う, 'to mesh'). Literally 'the gears don't mesh', used figuratively for interpersonal or organizational discord.