木に縁りて魚を求む

きによりてうおをもとむ

to be unable to accomplish something because one has chosen the wrong method, to ask for the impossible, to look for fish by climbing a tree

求縁

きゅうえん

courtship

木魚

もくぎょ

round

舟に刻して剣を求む

ふねにこくしてけんをもとむ

to not be getting with the times; to be unaware that things are changing

舟に刻みて剣を求む

ふねにきざみてけんをもとむ

to not be getting with the times; to be unaware that things are changing

求む

もとむ

to want, to wish for

毛を吹いて疵を求む

けをふいてきずをもとむ

to be nitpicky; to be fault-finding

求むる

もとむる

to want, to seek, to request

木登り魚

きのぼりうお

climbing perch (esp. of genus Anabas)

幸福を求めて

こうふくをもとめて

in search (pursuit) of happiness

木に竹を接ぐ

きにたけをつぐ

to sew a fox's skin to the lion's, to graft a bamboo shoot on a tree

死中に活を求める

しちゅうにかつをもとめる

to search for a way out of a potentially fatal situation, to seek for a way out of a desperate situation

川っ縁

かわっぷち

riverside, riverbank

崖っ縁

がけっぷち

edge (e.g. of a cliff, precipice), critical point or moment

同気相求む

どうきあいもとむ

like minds gather

縁を結ぶ

えんをむすぶ

to form a connection (with Buddha)

縁を切る

えんをきる

to get a divorce, to sever connections

魚を釣る

さかなをつる

to fish, to angle

魚を取る

さかなをとる

to catch fish