netsukes

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A form of netsuke — A small, often collectible, artistic carving characterized by an opening or two small holes (紐通し (himotōshi)), most commonly made of wood or ivory, used as a fob at the end of a cord attached to a suspended pouch containing pens, medicines, or tobacco. Netsuke originated in feudal Japan in the late 16th and 17th centuries.

Scrabble 12
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Meanings

noun
  1. pluralplural of netsuke

    […] they have gone into the galleries to see the Japanese paintings, lacquered boxes, netsukes, etc.

    1921, The bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Volume 16, Metropolitan Museum of Art
    3 more examples

    Some apology, I feel, is due from one who has never been in Japan for venturing to write about netsukes.

    1898, Frank Leslie, Frank Leslie's popular monthly: Volume 45

    Netsukes were used by the Japanese as bobs or toggles in connection with a cord for suspending a tobacco pouch[…]

    1949, Lillian Smith Albert, Kathryn Schwerke, The Complete Button Book

    All the netsukes were there, imprisoned for so long. I had packed them in the empty box of my last new razor […]

    2010, Bernhard Wunderlich, A Science Career Against All Odds
Cite this entry
APA

netsukes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/netsukes

MLA

“netsukes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/netsukes. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “netsukes,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/netsukes.

Source: netsukes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.