1.
thicket; undergrowth; dense bushes
A dense cluster of bushes, shrubs, or low-growing trees, often found in parks, forests, or gardens.
猫が茂みに隠れた。
The cat hid in the bushes.
公園の茂みの中から鳥の声が聞こえた。
I could hear birdsong from within the thicket in the park.
子供たちは茂みの奥に秘密基地を作って遊んでいた。
The children were playing, having built a secret base deep in the undergrowth.
Refers to a dense mass of shrubs or low trees growing closely together. Unlike 森 (forest) or 林 (grove), 茂み implies shorter, bushier vegetation that one might push through or hide behind.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 茂みに隠れる — hide in the bushes
- 茂みの中 — inside the thicket
- 茂みをかき分ける — push through the undergrowth
- 草の茂み — grassy thicket
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 藪 — also means thicket or bush, but often implies a more tangled, wilder mass of vegetation, sometimes with negative connotations (e.g., 藪蚊, bush mosquito)
- 草むら — patch of tall grass, not necessarily bushes or trees