音読み: カン
訓読み: つらぬく
画数: 11
部首: かい（貝）
Meaning
To pierce / to penetrate / to carry out
- Basic forms
- 貫く — pierce; carry through / base form
- 貫きます — pierces; carries through / masu form
- 貫いた — pierced; carried through / ta form
- 貫いて — piercing … / te form
- 貫かない — do not pierce / negative
- 貫けば — if (one) pierces; if (one) carries through / conditional
- Common expressions
- 壁を貫く — pierce a wall
- 信念を貫く — stick to one’s beliefs
- 最後まで貫く — carry through to the end
- More
- 貫いている — is sticking to; is carrying through / state
貫く（つらぬく） is a godan transitive verb. It means to pierce through something physically, and by extension to remain firm and consistent in one’s beliefs, principles, or actions.
- 貫く — to pierce; to go through; to carry out
- 貫通 — penetration; passing through
- 貫徹 — accomplishment; carrying through
- 一貫 — consistency; unity
- 突貫 — rush work; doing something at full force
The radical 貝 (shell or money) often suggests value or exchange. The top element shows something piercing through — like a string through coins. That’s why 貫 means “to pierce through” or “to carry through” an action or idea.