防ふせぐ

ふ

せ

ぐ

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

1

godan verb (-gu), transitive verb

defend against; protect against

Used when stopping harm, attack, weather, danger, etc. from reaching or affecting someone or something.

兵へい士したちは敵てきの攻こう撃げきを防ふせいだ。
The soldiers defended against the enemy attack.
厚あついカーテンで外そとの寒さむさを防ふせぐ。
Thick curtains protect against the cold outside.

2

godan verb (-gu), transitive verb

prevent; avert; avoid

Used for taking action so that an accident, problem, loss, spread, or other unwanted event does not occur.

事じ故こを防ふせぐために、道どう路ろに標ひょう識しきを増ふやした。
They added more road signs to prevent accidents.
手て洗あらいは感かん染せんの拡かく大だいを防ふせぐ。
Handwashing prevents the spread of infection.

Written forms

防ふせぐUsage97%
Standard and common kanji spelling for both physical protection and preventing something from happening.
ふせぐUsage3%
禦ふせぐUsage<1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji spelling; useful mainly for recognizing older or unusual written forms.
拒ふせぐ
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji spelling given; 防ぐ is the normal modern spelling.

Kanji

防ward off, defend, protect
禦defend, protect, resist
拒repel, refuse, reject

Similar words

守まもる
守る means to protect, guard, or keep safe more broadly; 防ぐ focuses on stopping a specific harm, attack, or problem.
防ぼう止しする
防止する is a more formal noun-plus-する verb meaning to prevent; 防ぐ is the everyday verb and is used in both concrete and abstract situations.
避さける
避ける means to avoid by keeping away from something; 防ぐ means to stop it from happening or stop its effect.

Etymology

The standard spelling uses 防, a kanji associated with defense and prevention, plus okurigana ぐ. The exact historical derivation of the native verb is not.