1A round object; a sphere, globe, or ball-shaped thing in general.
地球は宇宙から見ると青い玉のように見える。
Seen from space, the earth looks like a blue orb.
子どもがビー玉を並べて遊んでいた。
The child was lining up marbles to play with.
水銀は常温で丸い玉になる珍しい金属だ。
Mercury is an unusual metal that forms round beads at room temperature.
粘土を丸めて玉を作った。
I rolled the clay into a ball.
2A bead or droplet, such as a drop of sweat or dew.
額から汗の玉が伝い落ちた。
Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead.
朝の草花には露の玉がいくつも光っていた。
In the morning, drops of dew glistened on the flowers.
冷たいグラスの表面に水の玉がついた。
Beads of water formed on the surface of the cold glass.
3A ball used in sports; in baseball especially, refers to each pitch thrown.
あのピッチャーの玉は速くて打ちにくい。
That pitcher's ball is fast and hard to hit.
サッカーで玉をうまくコントロールするのは簡単ではない。
Controlling the ball well in soccer isn't easy.
卓球の玉が机の下に転がっていった。
The ping-pong ball rolled under the table.
4A serving of noodles (e.g., ramen or udon), as in 「麺一玉」 ("one serving of noodles").
すみません、替え玉をお願いします。
Excuse me, could I get a refill of noodles, please?
このラーメン屋では玉を増やすと少し値段が上がる。
At this ramen shop, adding an extra serving of noodles raises the price a bit.
5A bullet — the metal projectile fired from a gun (usually written 弾).
銃に玉を込めてから撃った。
He loaded a bullet into the gun before firing.
床に空の薬莢と玉が散らばっていた。
Empty casings and bullets were scattered on the floor.
6A light bulb — the round glass fixture that emits light (usually written 球).
玄関の玉が切れたので、新しいものに替えた。
The bulb by the front door burned out, so I replaced it with a new one.
この照明器具は玉を三つ使うタイプだ。
This light fixture is the type that uses three bulbs.
7A colloquial term for the lens of glasses, binoculars, etc.
眼鏡の玉が汚れていて、よく見えない。
The lenses of my glasses are dirty, so I can't see well.
双眼鏡の玉を拭いてから星を観察した。
I wiped the binocular lenses before observing the stars.
8An abacus bead — the round counter moved to represent numbers on an abacus.
そろばんの玉を弾いて素早く計算する。
She flicks the abacus beads and calculates quickly.
9Vulgar slang for a testicle; not used in formal contexts.
サッカーの試合中にボールが股間の玉に当たって彼はうずくまった。
During the soccer match, the ball hit him in the groin and he crumpled over.
10A gem or jewel, especially a round one like a pearl; figuratively, something outstanding or precious.
祖母の指輪には大きな玉がはめ込まれている。
A large gem is set in my grandmother's ring.
海女が採ってきた貝から美しい玉が見つかった。
A beautiful pearl was found in a shell that the female diver had gathered.
この作品は現代美術の玉と称されている。
This work is hailed as a jewel of contemporary art.
11An old term for a female entertainer such as a geisha; rarely used today.
昔の花街では、一人前の玉になるまで何年も修業したという。
In the old pleasure quarters, it's said one trained for years before becoming a full-fledged entertainer.
12A somewhat dated, disparaging way to describe a person's character, as in 「とんでもない玉」 ("quite a character").
彼はなかなかの玉で、誰の言うことも聞かない。
He's quite a character — he doesn't listen to anyone.
あんな玉に関わって、ろくなことにならない。
Getting involved with a character like that won't lead to anything good.
13An item, sum of money, or person used as a piece in a scheme or plot (e.g., in a scam).
詐欺グループは、身分証を貸すだけの「玉」を集めていた。
The fraud ring was recruiting "pawns" who would simply lend out their ID.
14Used in words like 玉子 to mean "egg" as food.
お寿司屋さんで甘い玉子を頼んだ。
I ordered the sweet tamago (egg) at the sushi restaurant.
弁当のすみに小さな玉子焼きが入っていた。
There was a small piece of rolled omelet tucked in the corner of the bento.
15A suffix attached to okonomiyaki names to indicate the variety or a single serving, as in 「豚玉」 (pork okonomiyaki) or 「イカ玉」 (squid okonomiyaki).
豚玉をひとつと、焼きそばをください。
I'll have one pork okonomiyaki and a yakisoba, please.
このお店のイカ玉は生地がふわふわで人気だ。
This shop's squid okonomiyaki is popular for its fluffy batter.
16A suffix for coins, attached after an amount, as in 「十円玉」 ("10-yen coin") or 「百円玉」 ("100-yen coin").
自動販売機に百円玉を二枚入れた。
I put two 100-yen coins into the vending machine.
財布の中で十円玉がじゃらじゃら音を立てた。
The 10-yen coins jingled in my wallet.
五百円玉を一枚もらったが、うまく使い道がない。
I got a single 500-yen coin, but I can't find a good use for it.
17A literary, old-fashioned way of praising something as precious, beautiful, or excellent; seen in idioms like 「玉の輿」 ("marrying into wealth").
彼女は玉の輿に乗ったと近所で噂されている。
The neighbors are gossiping that she married into wealth.