食くい止とめる

く

い

と

め

る

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

食い止める · ichidan verb

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

Meanings

ichidan verb, transitive verb

hold back; keep at bay; stem; curb; halt

Used for stopping the advance or spread of something undesirable, such as an enemy, disease, or trend. Often implies a defensive or preventive effort.

敵てきの攻こう撃げきを食くい止とめるために、兵へい士したちは必ひっ死しに戦たたかった。
The soldiers fought desperately to hold back the enemy's attack.
感かん染せん拡かく大だいを食くい止とめるには、早そう期きの対たい策さくが必ひつ要ようだ。
Early measures are necessary to stem the spread of infection.
インフレを食くい止とめる政せい策さくが求もとめられている。
Policies to curb inflation are being called for.

See all 39 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈事こと〉の拡かく大だいを食くい止とめるto curb the spread of something
感かん染せん症しょうの拡かく大だいを食くい止とめるため、外がい出しゅつを控ひかえた。
To curb the spread of the infection, people avoided going out.
被ひ害がいを食くい止とめるto stem the damage
早はやめの対たい応おうで被ひ害がいを最さい小しょう限げんに食くい止とめた。
Because of the quick response, the damage was kept to a minimum.
〈相あい手て〉の侵しん攻こうを食くい止とめるto hold back an advancing enemy or opponent
兵へい士したちは敵てきの侵しん攻こうを食くい止とめた。
The soldiers held back the enemy's advance.

Kanji

食eat, food
止stop, halt
喰eat, drink, receive (a blow)

Related words

防ふせぐN3
防ぐ is the general word for preventing something from happening at all, while 食い止める specifically means stopping something that is already advancing or spreading.
抑おさえるN2
抑える is used for suppressing or controlling things like emotions, prices, or growth in general, while 食い止める focuses on halting the advance of something harmful like a disease or invasion.
阻そ止しN1
阻止する is a more formal, often deliberate act of blocking or stopping an action or plan, whereas 食い止める emphasizes containing something that is already spreading.
防ぼう止しN3
防止する means to prevent something from occurring in the first place, while 食い止める means to stop something that has already started from getting worse.

Opposites

助じょ長ちょう
助長する means to encourage or accelerate the spread of something undesirable, the opposite of 食い止める, which means to curb or halt that spread.

Don't confuse with

突つき止とめる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.
引ひき止とめるN2
引き止める also ends in ...止める but means to hold back a person from leaving, whereas 食い止める means to halt the progress of something like damage or disease.

Built from

食くい+止とめる

Written forms

食くい止とめるUsage53%
Standard kanji spelling; high priority.
くい止とめるUsage15%
Mixed kana-kanji variant; less common but still used.
食くいとめるUsage15%
search-only kanji form
Search-only form; not a standard spelling.
くいとめるUsage11%
喰くい止とめるUsage4%
search-only kanji form
Search-only form using 喰; not a standard spelling.
喰くいとめるUsage2%
search-only kanji form
Search-only form; not a standard spelling.

Etymology

Compound of 食い (kui, continuative form of 食う 'to eat') + 止める (tomeru, 'to stop'). The 食い element may originally have carried a nuance of 'biting into' or 'holding fast', but the exact derivation is uncertain.