1.
small pieces; finely chopped (food)
Meat or other food cut into small, thin pieces. Commonly seen on food packaging.
豚の細切れ肉を買った。
I bought thinly sliced pork pieces.
牛細切れで肉じゃがを作った。
I made nikujaga with beef cut into small pieces.
細切れ肉は薄切り肉より安い。
Small-cut meat pieces are cheaper than thinly sliced meat.
2.
fragmented; in small increments
Describes time or activities broken up into small, discontinuous segments.
細切れの時間を活用する。
To make use of fragmented bits of time.
会議が多くて、細切れにしか仕事ができない。
I have so many meetings that I can only work in small fragments.
細切れの休憩を取りながら勉強した。
I studied while taking short, intermittent breaks.
USAGE:
In the food sense, commonly seen on supermarket labels as 豚細切れ (pork small pieces) or 牛細切れ (beef small pieces). These are irregularly-shaped small cuts, usually cheaper than neat slices.
In the time/activity sense, often describes the frustration of not having long, uninterrupted blocks of time.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 細切れ肉 (small-cut meat pieces)
- 細切れの時間 (fragmented time)
- 細切れにする (to cut into small pieces; to fragment)