燕

Word usually written using kana alone

swallow (bird of the Hirundinidae family); martin

barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)

younger man involved with an older woman; boy toy

Clothing

tailcoat

small bird (like a swallow or sparrow)

small-minded person; person lacking in character

Ancient Chinese banquet music

Proverb

only a hero can understand a hero; swallows and sparrows can't understand the aspirations of phoenixes and swans

threadfin (any fish of family Polynemidae, esp. the striped threadfin, Polydactylus plebeius)

swift's nest (used to make bird's nest soup)

how can a small bird (a sparrow, a petty person) understand the aspirations of a great bird (a phoenix); only a hero can understand a hero

eighth lunar month

quickly reversed cut (sword technique)

Martial arts

swallow counter (judo technique); swallow flight reversal

Mahjong

swapping one's hand with the bottom row of the nearest wall (cheating technique)

Mahjong

completing a hand with an opponent's discarded riichi tile

Martial arts

Yangqingquan; Yangqing Fist

Oriental pratincole (Glareola maldivarum); eastern collared pratincole; large Indian pratincole; swallow-plover

ツバメウオ／つばめうお only

longfin batfish (Platax teira); Tiera batfish

Rare term

flying fish (esp. the Japanese flying fish, Cypselurus agoo)

Japanese butterfly ray (Gymnura japonica)

swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus)

maguari stork (Ciconia maguari)

bead lily (Clintonia udensis)

Historical term

Protectorate General to Pacify the North (Tang-period Chinese office established in Inner Mongolia in 669 CE)

Rare term

swallow chick

Rare term

swallow

Rare term

swift's nest (used to make bird's nest soup); edible bird's nest

swallow in flight

dark-red pigment; rouge

Abbreviation

dark red; deep red

cochineal

rabbitear iris (Iris laevigata)