1.
saliva, spit
The liquid produced in the mouth. A basic word that Japanese children learn early but which may not appear in formal textbooks.
Kanji: Can be written as 唾.
Common expressions
- つばを吐く (to spit)
- つばを飲む (to swallow one's saliva - often from nervousness or anticipation)
- つばが飛ぶ (spit flies - when speaking emphatically)
- つばをつける (to put one's spit on - to claim something, like licking food to claim it)
Idiom: 眉につばをつける (to put spit on one's eyebrows) means to be skeptical, based on a belief that this protected against fox possession.
Formal term: 唾液 is the formal/medical term for saliva.