底をつく

• 読み: そこをつく
• ローマ字: soko wo tsuku
• 漢字の分解: 底 (tei/soko) — bottom, base, sole
• 発音: /so.ko.o.tsɯ.kɯ/

意味

To run out of; to be depleted; to dry up. Describes resources or supplies reaching zero.

An idiomatic expression combining 底 (bottom) and つく (to reach/hit). The image is of reaching the very bottom of a container — nothing is left. Used for money, supplies, energy, patience, or any finite resource that has been completely exhausted. Common in both everyday conversation and news reporting.

例文

1. 貯金が底をついて生活が苦しくなった。
2. 食料の在庫が底をつきそうだ。
3. 体力が底をついてこれ以上走れなかった。

使い方ガイド

場面: finances, daily life, news

トーン: urgent

起源と歴史

Compound of 底 (bottom, base) and つく (to reach, to arrive at). The metaphor of hitting the bottom of a well or container has been used since the Edo period to describe complete depletion.

文化的背景

時代: Edo

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal