• 海峡かいきょう — a strait between two landmasses
• 峡谷きょうこく — a deep gorge or ravine
• 山峡さんきょう — a narrow valley between steep mountains
• 海峡部かいきょうぶ — the narrow strait area between coasts
• 三峡さんきょう — “Three Gorges”; a famous gorge region in China

峡 is a phono-semantic character. The left side is 山, the “mountain” radical, signaling cliffs and steep terrain. The right side comes from a phonetic element that also suggests “being squeezed” or “narrowly enclosed.”

Put together, the character paints the image of land pinched between mountains — a tight passage where slopes rise sharply on both sides. That’s why 峡 shows up in words for gorges, ravines, and narrow sea passages like 海峡かいきょう.