排水溝

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 排水溝(はいすいこう) means a drainage ditch or channel through which water drains away.
• Basic usage: It describes food scraps clogging the kitchen drainage passage.
  • 台所の排水溝に食べ物のくずが詰まった。

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Reading 溝
  • The independent word 溝 is read みぞ, but it is read こう in 排水溝.
• Channel and opening
  • 排水溝 focuses on a drainage channel, while the identically pronounced 排水口(はいすいこう) focuses on the opening through which water drains.