肥(こ)やし

こやし
noun
manure; fertilizer; nourishment for growth
nature
1. manure; fertilizer
Material worked into soil to enrich it, especially animal manure and compost. A more earthy, everyday word than 肥料(ひりょう), the term used on product labels and in agriculture.
畑(はたけ)に肥(こ)やしをやる。
I put manure on the field.
牛(うし)のふんを肥(こ)やしにして野菜(やさい)を育(そだ)てている。
They grow vegetables using cow dung as fertilizer.
この土地(とち)は肥(こ)やしが足(た)りないので、作物(さくもつ)がなかなか育(そだ)たない。
This land lacks fertilizer, so crops don't grow well.
2. nourishment for one's growth; something that makes a person better
Figuratively, an experience — usually a painful one — that feeds later development. Used almost exclusively in the pattern 〜を肥(こ)やしにする.
失敗(しっぱい)を肥(こ)やしにする。
To make failure into nourishment for growth.
若(わか)いうちの苦労(くろう)は、後(のち)の肥(こ)やしになる。
Hardship while you're young becomes nourishment for you later on.
厳(きび)しい批評(ひひょう)も自分(じぶん)の肥(こ)やしだと考(かんが)えれば、素直(すなお)に聞(き)ける。
If you think of harsh criticism as nourishment for yourself, you can take it in without resistance.

The noun of 肥(こ)やす (to fatten, to enrich). The figurative sense is far more common in conversation than the agricultural one.

Common collocations

Similar words

  • 肥料(ひりょう): fertilizer — the neutral technical term, including chemical fertilizers
  • 堆肥(たいひ): compost — specifically decomposed plant and animal matter
  • 糧(かて): sustenance, food for the spirit — a more literary word for the figurative sense

Related Words

Compare: 肥料(ひりょう) (fertilizer)
Compare: 堆肥(たいひ) (compost)
Compare: 有機(ゆうき)肥料(ひりょう) (organic fertilizer)
general
Added 2026.8.15 21:20 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
30500/30665_koyashi