also: ところせしと
Describes a space so full of people or things that it feels cramped or overflowing. Often used with verbs like 並ぶ, 置く, or いる to emphasize abundance in a limited area.
The venue was packed with people lined up.
Documents are placed all over the desk, leaving hardly any space.
Standard kanji-kana mixed spelling; the most common written form.
Mixed spelling with kana for ところ; less common but still encountered.
Mixed spelling with kana for せまし; a variant written form.
Contracted reading variant; rarely used in modern writing.
A fixed adverbial expression from 所 “place,” the classical adjective 狭し “narrow, cramped,” and the quotative particle と: literally, “as though the place were cramped.”