1.
standing close together, rising in clusters
Many tall things standing densely together like trees in a forest. Used for buildings, towers, smokestacks, and other tall structures clustered in an area.
ビルが林立している。
Buildings stand clustered together.
駅前には高層マンションが林立している。
High-rise apartments stand clustered in front of the station.
かつて工場の煙突が林立していたこの地域も、今は住宅地になった。
This area, where factory chimneys once stood clustered together, has now become a residential district.
USAGE:
A vivid metaphor: 林 (forest) + 立 (stand). Evokes the image of tall structures standing as densely as trees in a grove. Almost always used for tall, vertical things — buildings, towers, smokestacks, antennae — not for people or horizontal objects. Typically appears in the pattern 〜が林立する.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- ビルが林立する: buildings stand in clusters
- 高層ビルの林立: cluster of skyscrapers
- 煙突が林立する: chimneys stand in rows