A round object; a sphere or orb (e.g., a marble, globe, or any ball-shaped thing).
地球は大きな丸い玉に見える。
The earth looks like a large round orb.
子どもたちは公園で小さな玉を転がして遊んでいる。
The children are rolling small balls around and playing in the park.
工場では金属を高温で溶かし、丸い玉にして冷やす工程がある。
At the factory there is a process of melting metal at high temperature and cooling it into round spheres.
A bead or droplet (e.g., a drop of sweat or dew).
額に汗の玉がいくつも光っていた。
Beads of sweat were shining on his forehead.
朝、葉に小さな露の玉が残っていた。
In the morning, tiny drops of dew remained on the leaves.
A ball used in sports (e.g., a baseball pitch; a ball in soccer).
ピッチャーが速い球を投げた。
The pitcher threw a fastball.
サッカーの試合で彼の蹴った玉がゴールネットを揺らした。
In the soccer match, the ball he kicked shook the net.
卓球の小さな玉をラケットで素早く返す。
You quickly return the small ping-pong ball with your paddle.
A serving or pile (especially of noodles); used to indicate one portion (e.g., one serving of noodles).
ラーメンは麺1玉で十分だった。
One serving of noodles was enough for the ramen.
A bullet; a small projectile fired from a gun.
床に銃の玉が転がっていた。
A bullet was rolling on the floor.
狩猟用の銃には適切な種類の弾を装填する必要がある。
You need to load the proper type of bullets into the hunting rifle.
A bulb (e.g., a light bulb).
部屋の電球が切れたので交換した。
The light bulb in the room burned out, so I replaced it.
裸の電球が一つぶら下がっているだけの簡素な部屋だった。
It was a simple room with just a bare light bulb hanging.
A lens (of glasses, magnifying glass, etc.).
眼鏡の玉に傷がついて見えにくい。
The lens of my glasses is scratched and hard to see through.
古い双眼鏡の玉を交換してよく見えるようになった。
After replacing the lenses of the old binoculars, I could see clearly.
An abacus bead (the beads on an abacus).
そろばんの玉を右へはじいて引き算をする。
Push the abacus beads to the right to perform subtraction.
彼は幼いころ、そろばんの玉を使って計算を覚えた。
When he was young he learned to calculate using abacus beads.
Slang for a testicle (vulgar); used colloquially. (Caution: coarse language.)
冗談で金玉と呼ばれて彼は赤面した。
He blushed when jokingly called 'kintama' (testicles).
A gem or jewel (especially spherical ones like pearls); figuratively something precious or excellent.
祖母のネックレスには大きな真珠の玉が一つ下がっていた。
Grandmother's necklace had a large pearl hanging from it.
この絵は画壇の宝玉のように評価されている。
This painting is regarded as a jewel of the art world.
A term historically used for a female entertainer (e.g., a geisha); now largely archaic.
江戸時代、料亭には『玉』と呼ばれる女性がいたことがある。
In the Edo period, there were women called 'tama' working at restaurants/teahouses.
A derogatory term for a person; used to comment negatively on someone's character or nature.
彼は面倒を引き起こす玉だと皆から敬遠されている。
Everyone keeps their distance from him, saying he's a troublesome character.
あんな玉とは関わらないほうがいい。
You'd better not get involved with someone like that.
An item, fund, or person used as part of a scheme or plot; a pawn or component in a plan.
犯行グループは資金を運ぶ役の『玉』を用意していた。
The criminal group had prepared a 'pawn' to transport the funds.
Egg (as in 玉子); used as a noun or suffix to refer to an egg (food).
朝ごはんに玉子を二つ焼いた。
I fried two eggs for breakfast.
お弁当に茹で玉子を入れた。
I put a boiled egg in the bento.
A suffix in food names (especially okonomiyaki) indicating a serving/variety (e.g., 'butatama' = okonomiyaki with pork).
この店のおすすめは豚玉です。ひとつお願いします。
The shop's recommendation is the pork okonomiyaki. One, please.
A suffix indicating a coin (e.g., 'ju-en-dama' = a 10-yen coin).
ポケットに十円玉が二枚入っていた。
There were two 10-yen coins in my pocket.
自動販売機に百円玉を入れて飲み物を買った。
I inserted a 100-yen coin into the vending machine and bought a drink.
As a suffix or noun: something precious, beautiful, or excellent; used figuratively to mean a treasure or outstanding person/thing.
彼女は会社の玉だと上司に評価されている。
Her boss considers her a treasure of the company.