Entry
  1. Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb

    standing on tiptoe and stretching one's back to make oneself taller; stretching oneself

    彼は背伸びをして失敗した。
    He bit off more than he could chew.
  2. overreaching oneself; overstretching oneself; trying to do something beyond one's ability; pushing to the limit

Also written 背延び【せのび】

Pitch on OJAD

Characters in this word

2
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0

stature, height, back, behind, disobey, defy, go back on, rebel

Kun
せいそむ.くそむ.ける
On
ハイ
Strokes
9
Taught
Grade 6
JLPT
N3
Frequency
696 of 2500
Radical
meat
WaniKani
Level 30

Built from

Dictionary and index codes (31)
CodeReference
2-5-4SKIP code
4b5.15The Kanji Dictionary
1122.7, 1222.7Four corner code
1246deroo
80ccUnicode hex code
1-39-56JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
3754Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
4794New Nelson (John Haig)
2573New Japanese-English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
3182Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1641Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2230Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
446Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
481Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
796A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
957Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
933Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
29363Morohashi
957A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
1265Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
1338Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
845Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
967henshall3
893Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
1085Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
1017Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
455Les Kanjis dans la tête (Yves Maniette)
bei4, bei1Pinyin reading
bae, paeKorean reading
n3JLPT level (KANJIDIC2)
30WaniKani level
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0

expand, stretch, extend, lengthen, increase

Kun
の.びるの.ばすの.べるの.す
On
シン
Strokes
7
Taught
Junior high
JLPT
N2
Frequency
730 of 2500
Radical
person
WaniKani
Level 36

Built from

Used in names as

のぶよぼる

Dictionary and index codes (30)
CodeReference
1-2-5SKIP code
2a5.3The Kanji Dictionary
2520.6Four corner code
2155deroo
4f38Unicode hex code
1-31-13JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
403Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
163New Nelson (John Haig)
70New Japanese-English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
79Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
51Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
54Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
1118Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
1199Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
741A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
353Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
1528Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
481Morohashi
1431A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
1108Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
1160Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
309Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
1095Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
1246Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
79Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
1127Les Kanjis dans la tête (Yves Maniette)
shen1Pinyin reading
sinKorean reading
n2JLPT level (KANJIDIC2)
36WaniKani level