泥: mud | restrained

泥 ní

noun
: mud; clay; paste; pulp

泥 nì

: restrained

Kun Reading

泥 | どろ doro

noun | No-adjective
: mud

泥む | なずむ nazumu

Godan verb with mu ending
: to cling to; to stick to; to be wedded to

 Usage:

泥土 ni2tu3: earth; soil; mud; clay [でいど deido: mud]

泥沙 ni2sha1: silt
[でいしゃ deisha: mud and sand]

泥刀 ni2dao1: trowel

泥坑 ni2keng1: mud pit; mire; morass

泥孩 ni2hai2: clay doll

泥炭 ni2tan4: peat [でいたん deitan OR すくも sukumo]

水泥 sui3ni2: cement
[泥水 | でいすい deisui: muddy water; red light district]

印泥 yin4ni2: red ink paste used for seal

封泥 feng1ni2: sealing clay; lute

污泥 wu1ni2: mud; sludge

雪泥 xue3ni2: (snow) slush [せつでい setsudei]

土豆泥 tu3 dou4 ni2: mashed potato

泥 ni4: restrained

泥古 ni4gu3: stick-in-the-mud; to stick to old ways; stubbornly conservative

泥子 ni4zi: putty (used by plumbers and glaziers)

泥守 ni4shou3: stubborn and conservative

拘泥 ju1ni4: to be a stickler for formalities; to rigidly adhere to; to cling to; constrained; ill at ease

Japanese common word / expression
泥棒 OR 泥坊 | どろぼう dorobou: thief; burglar; theft

泥棒猫 | どろぼうねこ doroubou neko
: a cat that enters someone’s house (other than its owner’s) to steal food; thieving cat
: (derogatory term) someone who secretly does bad things (i.e. an adulterer, homewrecker)

月給泥棒 | げっきゅうどろぼう gekkyuu dorobou
: freeloader; slacker; lazy worker who does not deserve his salary

こそこそ泥棒 | こそこそどろぼう kosokoso dorobou
: sneak thief; petty thief; cat burglar

泥々 | どろどろ dorodoro
: (onomatopoeic or mimetic word) syrupy; muddled
: muddy
: sordid
: (onomatopoeic or mimetic word) rumble (e.g. of drums, of thunder); peal; boom

泥刑 | どろけい dorokei OR 刑泥 | けいどろ keidoro
: cops and robbers (hide-and-seek game)

泥を吐く | どろをはく doro o haku
: to fess up; to come clean; to confess one’s crimes; to spill the beans

泥を塗る | どろをぬる doro o nuru
: to besmirch; to sully

泥を被る | どろをかぶる doro o kaburu
: to take the blame; to cover oneself in mud

雲泥万里 | うんでいばんり un dei banri
: being poles apart (polar opposites); (there being) all the difference in the world

泥の様に眠る | どろのようにねむる doro no you ni nemuru
: to sleep like a log; to sleep like a baby

人を見たら泥棒と思え | ひとをみたらどろぼうとおもえ hito o mitara dorobou to omoe
: Don’t trust a stranger

嘘吐きは泥棒の始まり | うそつきはどろぼうのはじまり usotsuki wa dorobou no hajimari
: Show me a liar, and I will show you a thief

柳の下に何時も泥鰌は居ない | やなぎのしたにいつもどじょうはいない yanagi no shita ni itsumo dojou wa inai
: Good luck does not always repeat itself
Chinese idiom
抹稀泥 mo3 xi1 ni2
: to try to gloss over things

泥古不化 ni4gu3 bu4hua4
: conservative and unable to adapt

泥菩薩過江，自身難保 [泥菩萨过江，自身难保] ni2 pu2 sa4 guo4 jiang1 , zi4 shen1 nan2 bao3
: like a clay Bodhisattva fording a river who can’t guarantee his own safety; unable to save oneself, let alone others

燕子銜泥壘大窩 [燕子衔泥垒大窝] yan4 zi xian2 ni2 lei3 da4 wo1
: the swallow’s nest is built one beakful of mud at a time: many a little makes a mickle