蝸か角かく

noun

snail's eyestalk

Literal zoological term for the tentacle-like eye-bearing appendage of a snail. Rare in everyday conversation; mainly encountered in literary or descriptive contexts.

• 蝸か角かくの先さきには小ちいさな目めがある。

  At the tip of the snail's eyestalk there is a tiny eye.

noun

narrow space; cramped place

Figurative use derived from the image of a snail's tiny horn, suggesting a very confined area. Often appears in the set phrase 蝸角の争い (a petty quarrel over a trifle).

• 彼かれらは蝸か角かくのような小ちいさな土と地ちを巡めぐって争あらそっている。

  They are fighting over a tiny piece of land, as narrow as a snail's horn.

• 「蝸か角かくの争あらそい」ということわざを知しっていますか。

  Do you know the proverb 'a quarrel over a snail's horn'?