information gathering; interviewing witnesses; police inquiry
Primarily used in police or investigative contexts for gathering information by questioning people, especially witnesses. Often appears in compounds like 聞き込み捜査 (investigation by interviewing).
The police conducted interviews with witnesses of the incident.
Valuable information was obtained through the door-to-door investigation.
police legwork; canvassing; house-to-house inquiry
Standard kanji spelling; the most common form in news and police contexts.
Variant with 込 in its non-standard form; less common but still seen.
Compound of 聞き (stem of 聞く 'to listen, ask') and 込み (stem of 込む 'to go into, put in'), literally 'listening in' or 'asking around'.