塊

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 塊 is read as かたまり and is a noun for material or separate elements gathered into a perceptible lump or mass.
• Basic usage: Name the substance with の, as in 土の塊 and 雲の塊.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• A bounded mass
  • The point is not merely that there is much soil or cloud, but that it is perceived as one gathered mass.
• Reading of the character
  • In this entry the character 塊 takes the native Japanese reading かたまり; do not guess an on-reading from the kanji alone.