桅 mast of a ship, crow's nest of a mast, gnarled and knotted woody, being on the lookout for danger, a lookout 枙,⺈,木,危,

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Mincho:

Gothic:

桅

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On-yomi [ Toggle rōmaji ]

ガイ　･　キ
GA　I　･　KI

Kun-yomi

くちなし
ku　chi　na　shi

Glyph elements [ Toggle Font ]

枙

ガ,アク,ヤク,ふし wood knot; knotted woody

　WOOD and MISFORTUNE, BAD LUCK, DISTRESS
　

⺈

× HTML entity: ⺈ head and neck exposed, in danger; looking upward, head up peeping out from inside

　HEAD ROLLED BACK
…or: the HEAD in 2ND POSITION
…or: HEAD in HIGH TENSION
　

木

ボク,モク,き,こ～ wood, woody stalk, stem, wooden, a woody, tree, implanted, simple, simpleton, coffin, encased death, unfeeling, numb

　TWISTING a TAUT HEAD
…or: SCREWING EMISSIONS
…or: HAND on TAUT ROD
　

危

キ,あぶ,あや danger, to endanger another, be looking up at danger; apprehension, anxiety, fear, risky, hazardous, in jeopardy, doubtful, to mistrust, to shrink from

　DANGER LOOKING UPWARD and JOINING TOGETHER WITH A TIGHT SEAL SOMETHING ROLLED SCROLLED OR COILED
…or: HEAD AND NECK EXPOSED IN DANGER, HEAD PEEPING OUT FROM INSIDE with ERECTION TAUT in RECIPROCATING LATERAL ROD MOTION and HAND with CURLED PENIS in TENSION GASPS ROLLED TAUT AND TIGHT WITH SPRING-LIKE ACTION OF NO-LONGER-INTEGRATED FOOT OF CHINESE FEMALE
…or: HEAD AND NECK EXPOSED ENDANGERED with ADVERSITY, MISFORTUNE, BAD LUCK, EVIL, DISTRESS, BEING IN A LOW-QUALITY SITUATION
　

Meanings of elements

WOOD KNOT, KNOTTED WOODY, KNOT ON WOOD with HEAD AND NECK EXPOSED IN DANGER, LOOKING UPWARD, HEAD UP PEEPING OUT FROM INSIDE
…or: WOOD with TO ENDANGER, LOOKING UP AT DANGER, APPREHENSION, ANXIETY, FEAR, RISKY, HAZARDOUS, IN JEOPARDY, DOUBTFUL, TO MISTRUST, TO SHRINK FROM

「Knotted wood and looking upward in danger」describes what appears as a large「knot」on the mast of a ship, called the crow's nest:「A crow's nest is a structure in the upper part of the mainmast of a ship or structure, that is used as a lookout point. This position ensured the best view of the approaching hazards, other ships or land. It was the best device for this purpose until the invention of radar. In early ships it was simply a barrel or a basket lashed to the tallest mast. Later it became a specially designed platform with protective railing. It should not be confused with the top, the platform in the upper part of each mast of a square-rigged sailing ship. Sometimes the term is used metaphorically in reference to topmost structures in buildings, towers, etc. Since the crow's nest is a point far away from the ship's center of mass, any small movement of the ship is amplified and could lead to severe seasickness, even in accustomed sailors. Therefore, being sent to the crow's nest was also considered a punishment.」
[ https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Crow%27s+nest 2013-08-24 ]
Japanese pronunciation means「gardenia bloom」and「without mouth」perhaps to equate the shapes of that bloom with the crow's nest on a ship's mast, and to underscore that while high up the mast, not much could be heard from the deck below. Gardenia blooms contain crocin, a compound used to make yellow dyes, and may refer to the stains in the underwear of those sailors tasked to man the crow's nest after involuntarily pissing themselves and becoming speechless,「without mouth」when frozen in fear.

External source definitions …excluding politically incorrect concepts and other meanings deemed offensive today; may include extended definitions, euphemisms, and mnemonics)
Chinese: mast
Japanese EDRDG: mast of ship
Unihan extended: mast of ship

Always keep in mind that these glyphs most likely were originally designed by groups of clever old men as vulgar riddles for their own entertainment (see 籒 for that), representing Chinese society many thousands of years ago, but intended NOT as a written or spoken language when created. If these glyphs had been intended for language use, the sages could not have possibly designed a worse system! Is it truly possible that all these glyphs started out as off-color jokes and puzzles? Yes! It is, and often with multiple correct answers to each riddle, the same as is true today. Sex had no shame in ancient China. Why would it? But, have there been necessary rewrites and altered explanations of the original elemental meanings over the centuries?

No one is suggesting these glyphs depict contemporary life in China, Japan, or anywhere else. This site describes glyph meanings, not people. These glyphs however, describe many and various things, including people, long before there were any notions of becoming politically incorrect. The question to be answered is, should these glyphs continue being used, by anyone, anywhere, for expressing language? (More...) Despite how seemingly bad our human existence is today, do you actually believe that the so-called good old days were any better? Or could they have been worse?

By the way, with a limited number of the same elements used by the sages again and again to form these glyphs, you should expect to find the same explanations again and again, as tedious as that may become, and as an inherent trait of any lexicon. This site explains multiple meanings of glyphs ignored or censored by other sources, generally as being too embarrassing to admit today.