Japanese kanji 掻

Its core is a scraping or scratching motion. In Japanese, the verb かく describes moving a hand, nail, or tool against, through, or into something. That motion can mean scratching an itch, pushing through water, combing hair, shaving ice, or mixing food.

The Japanese verb is attested in 8th century records, including the Kojiki and Man'yōshū; this dates the verb, not proof that today's exact glyph was already fixed. The Chinese character family appears earlier in the written record: an early Chinese dictionary, Shuowen Jiezi, defines the older form 搔 as scraping, with 手 marking the hand action and 蚤 as its sound component. Japan uses 掻 as a simplified conventional form paired with print-standard 搔.

What does 掻 mean in different words?

The word around 掻く tells you which sense is meant. In phrases about itchy skin, water, hair, food, or a tool, it can mean scratching, paddling, combing, scraping, or stirring. In set expressions it can also mean sweating or suffering embarrassment; translate the whole Japanese phrase rather than assigning one gloss to 掻 alone.

Chinese dictionaries also record 搔 with a figurative “disturb” sense historically linked to 騷. That Chinese extension does not make Japanese 掻く a general word for “trouble.”

Should I write 掻 or かく?

Use かく in ordinary prose unless the kanji adds clarity. 掻 is outside Japan's Jōyō kanji list, a guide to kanji for general writing, so kana is a normal choice. Writing 掻く can help distinguish scratching or stirring from the homophones 書く (“write”) and 描く (“draw or depict”).

Japanese reference works treat 搔 as the print-standard form and 掻 as its simplified conventional counterpart. Chinese-language dictionaries generally list 搔 as the head form, so readers comparing the writing traditions may meet this character family in different shapes.