ネズミ捕とり

ね

ず

み

と

り

Meanings

1

mousetrap; rattrap

A device for catching mice or rats.

台だい所どころにネズミ捕とりを仕し掛かけた。
I set a mousetrap in the kitchen.

2

Poison used to kill rats or mice.

倉そう庫こにネズミ捕とりをまいた。
I spread rat poison in the warehouse.

3

speed trap

Colloquial term for a police speed trap.

あの交こう差さ点てんはネズミ捕とりが多おおいから気きをつけて。
Be careful at that intersection; there are a lot of speed traps.

4

Japanese rat snake

Refers to the Japanese rat snake (アオダイショウ), which preys on rats.

See also: アオダイショウ

ネズミ捕とりはアオダイショウの別べつ名めいとして使つかわれることがある。
ネズミ捕り is sometimes used as another name for the Japanese rat snake.

See all 7 example sentences ›

Kanji

捕catch, capture
取take, fetch, take up
鼠rat, mouse, dark gray

Related words

アオダイショウ
The standard name for the Japanese rat snake; ネズミ捕り is a colloquial or alternative name.

Written forms

ネズミ捕とりUsage37%
Common katakana-kanji spelling for the general term.
ねずみ捕とりUsage21%
search-only kanji form
Search-only hiragana-kanji form.
ネズミ取とりUsage13%
Alternate common spelling using 取り.
ねずみ取とりUsage9%
search-only kanji form
Search-only hiragana-kanji form.
ねずみとりUsage9%
鼠ねずみ捕とりUsage5%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; usually written in kana or mixed katakana-kanji.
鼠ねずみ取とりUsage5%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; usually written in kana or mixed katakana-kanji.
ネズミとりUsage1%
search-only kana form

Etymology

Compound of ネズミ (mouse/rat) and 捕り (catching). The meaning extended to rat poison, speed traps (catching speeders), and the rat snake (a natural rat catcher).