1.
to visit (a sick or injured person), to pay a sympathy call
To visit someone who is ill, injured, or has experienced misfortune, in order to offer comfort and support.
入院した友人を見舞う。
I visit a hospitalized friend.
花を持って病院に見舞いに行った。
I went to visit at the hospital with flowers.
祖母が退院するまで毎日見舞いに通った。
I visited every day until my grandmother was discharged from the hospital.
2.
to strike, to hit, to befall
Used when a disaster, calamity, or blow strikes a person or place. Often appears in passive form (見舞われる).
台風に見舞われた。
We were hit by a typhoon.
この地域は大きな地震に見舞われた。
This region was struck by a major earthquake.
経済危機に見舞われた国は、復興に何年もかかった。
The country struck by an economic crisis took many years to recover.
USAGE:
Sense 1 is the original meaning and is often used as the noun 見舞い (a visit to a sick person, a get-well gift). Sense 2 appears almost exclusively in the passive form 見舞われる, typically with natural disasters or crises as the subject.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 見舞いに行く: to go visit (a sick person)
- 見舞い客: visitor (to a sick person)
- お見舞い: get-well visit/gift (polite form)
- 災害に見舞われる: to be struck by a disaster
- 不幸に見舞われる: to be visited by misfortune