突き止める (tsukitomeru) Japanese meaning: determine | Kotomora

突つき止とめる

つ

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と

め

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JLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

突き止める · ichidan verb

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	突つき止とめる	突つき止とめない
Polite	突つき止とめます	突つき止とめません
Past polite	突つき止とめました	突つき止とめませんでした
Past	突つき止とめた	突つき止とめなかった
Te-form	突つき止とめて	突つき止とめないで
Desire	突つき止とめたい	突つき止とめたくない
Potential	突つき止とめられるalso 突つき止とめれる	突つき止とめられないalso 突つき止とめれない
Passive	突つき止とめられる	突つき止とめられない
Causative	突つき止とめさせる	突つき止とめさせない
Causative passive	突つき止とめさせられる	突つき止とめさせられない
Volitional	突つき止とめよう
Polite volitional	突つき止とめましょう
Imperative	突つき止とめろ	突つき止とめるな
Conditional	突つき止とめれば	突つき止とめなければ
Tara conditional	突つき止とめたら	突つき止とめなかったら

Meanings

ichidan verb, transitive verb

determine; pin down; ascertain; locate; identify

Used for tracking down and confirming a fact, cause, culprit, or location after investigation. Often implies persistent effort.

Kanji

突stab, protruding, thrust
止stop, halt

Related words

特とく定ていN2sense 1
特定する is more formal and often used in technical or legal contexts for identifying something precisely, while 突き止める implies investigative effort to track something down.
割わり出だすN1sense 1
割り出す emphasizes calculating or deducing an answer from data or clues, while 突き止める emphasizes the final act of pinning down a fact through investigation.
解かい明めい sense 1
解明する means to clarify or solve a mystery or phenomenon in general, whereas 突き止める focuses narrowly on locating or confirming a specific fact, cause, or person.
見みつけ出だす sense 1
見つけ出す simply means to find something after searching, while 突き止める carries a stronger sense of deduction and persistent investigation to confirm the truth.

Don't confuse with

突つき殺ころす sense 2
突き殺す is the modern verb for stabbing someone to death, while 突き止める only carries that meaning as an archaic, now-unused sense and is normally used for identifying or locating something.
食くい止とめるN1
突き止める shares the ...止める ending and means to track down or pinpoint the cause of something, while 食い止める means to stop the advance or spread of something undesirable.
突つき進すすむN1
突き止める means to determine or track down (a cause, culprit, etc.), which learners may confuse with 突き進む due to the shared 突き prefix, but the meanings are unrelated.

Built from

突つく+止とめる

Written forms

突つき止とめるUsage44%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency news word.
つきとめるUsage36%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing when the kanji is not needed.
突つきとめるUsage21%
search-only kanji form
突つき止とめるUsage<1%

Etymology

Compound of 突く (tsuku, 'to thrust, poke') + 止める (tomeru, 'to stop, fix'). The original meaning was 'to stab and stop (someone)', which developed into 'to pin down' and then 'to ascertain, locate'.

Meanings

Usage patterns