食い込む

• 読み: くいこむ
• ローマ字: kuikomu
• 漢字の分解: 食 (shoku/ku) — eat, bite; 込 (kon) — go into, be packed in
• 発音: /kɯ.i.ko.mɯ/

意味

To bite into; to cut into; to dig into; to make inroads; to eat into a budget, market share, or personal time.

A Group 1 (godan) verb combining 食う (to bite or eat) with 込む (to go into, to be packed in). Literal uses include a rope or wire cutting into flesh, or teeth biting into food deeply. Figuratively, it describes encroachment on someone's territory, budget, or time, or making inroads into a competitor's market. The passive construction ～に食い込まれる describes having something eat into one's resources or space from the outside.

例文

1. 細いワイヤーが長時間の使用で手首に食い込み、強い痛みを感じた。
2. 新興の格安ブランドが大手の市場シェアに食い込んできている。
3. 連日の残業で、プライベートの時間が仕事にどんどん食い込まれている。

使い方ガイド

場面: business, daily life, work-life balance, competition

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Compound of 食う (to eat, to bite) and 込む (to go in, to be packed in). The combined image is of something biting or pressing its way into another thing and remaining embedded there.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: All classes