1.
rowing by hand; powered by hand-operated oars (as opposed to a motor)
Used as a noun and as a noun-modifier (with の) to describe boats, vehicles, or simple machines that are propelled by human muscle power — typically by oars or paddles — rather than by an engine or motor. Most often heard in 手漕ぎボート ("rowboat").
手漕ぎボートに乗る。
I get into a rowboat.
湖で手漕ぎボートを借りた。
We rented a rowboat at the lake.
祖父は昔、手漕ぎの舟で毎日漁に出ていた。
My grandfather used to go out fishing every day in a hand-rowed boat.
モーターボートと違って、手漕ぎボートは静かに湖面を進むので自然を楽しめる。
Unlike motorboats, rowboats glide quietly across the lake's surface, so you can really enjoy nature.
手漕ぎ is the noun form of 手漕ぐ (literally "to row by hand"), used to describe vehicles or boats propelled by human-powered oars or paddles. It is overwhelmingly used as a modifier of another noun (especially 手漕ぎボート), with の as the connector.
FORMATION:
- 手 ("hand") + 漕ぎ (the noun form of 漕ぐ "to row, to paddle")
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 手漕ぎボート: rowboat (the most frequent use)
- 手漕ぎの船 / 手漕ぎの舟: a hand-rowed boat
- 手漕ぎポンプ: hand-operated pump
- 手漕ぎで進む: to advance by rowing (by hand)
SIMILAR / CONTRASTING TERMS:
- 足漕ぎ: pedal-powered (e.g. 足漕ぎボート "pedal boat")
- 電動: electric-powered (the modern contrast)
- モーター付き: motor-equipped
- 自動: automatic / self-propelled
USAGE NOTES:
- Although 手漕ぎ technically can describe other hand-cranked devices (e.g. an old hand pump), in everyday Japanese it almost always refers to boats. Outside that context, native speakers more often spell out 手動 ("manual") or 手で漕ぐ as a verb phrase.
- When attached to another noun, the connector is の: 手漕ぎの船, not 手漕ぎ船.