also: とうば
hot-water bottle
A container filled with hot water and used to warm a bed or body. In modern Japanese, almost always written in kana as 湯たんぽ or simply たんぽ. The kanji spelling 湯婆 is ateji and very rare.
See also: 湯たんぽ
On cold nights, I put a hot-water bottle in my futon and sleep.
metal sake jug; sake warmer
Only with reading たんぽ
Kansai dialect term for a metal container used to warm sake, similar to a ちろり. Restricted to the reading たんぽ.
See also: チロリ
In the old days, they used metal hot-water bottles.
In Kansai, a metal vessel for warming sake is sometimes called a たんぽ.
Ateji spelling for たんぽ; the kanji 湯婆 literally mean 'hot water old woman'. This form is rarely used in modern Japanese; the kana spelling たんぽ is overwhelmingly preferred.
Archaic reading of the ateji spelling; not used in modern Japanese.
Standard modern spelling for the hot-water bottle sense. The reading とうば is archaic and not used with this kana form.
The reading たんぽ is of uncertain origin. The kanji 湯婆 (hot water + old woman) are ateji, likely chosen for their sounds rather than meaning. The reading とうば is the on'yomi of these kanji but is now archaic.