篠しの突つく

し

の

つ

く

Meanings

1

godan verb (-ku), intransitive verb

pelt down; pour

Literary verb used almost exclusively for heavy rain. Often appears in the fixed phrase 篠突く雨 (しのつくあめ), meaning 'pelting rain' or 'driving rain'.

篠しの突つく雨あめの中なかを、彼かれは傘かさもささずに歩あるいていた。
He was walking without an umbrella in the pelting rain.
窓まどの

外そと

で

は

、

し

の

つく

雨あめ

が

激はげ

しく

降ふ

り

続つづ

け

て

いる

。

Outside the window, the rain continues to pour down heavily.

Kanji

篠bamboo grass
突stab, protruding, thrust

Similar words

土ど砂しゃ降ぶり
土砂降り is a common noun meaning 'downpour' or 'heavy rain', used in everyday speech. 篠突く is a literary verb that describes the action of rain pelting down, and is much rarer.

Etymology

Composed of 篠 (しの, 'slender bamboo') and 突く (つく, 'to thrust'). The image is of rain falling so hard that it resembles slender bamboo stalks thrusting down. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the phrase is firmly associated with driving rain in classical and literary Japanese.