How to say "lighter" in Japanese

• ライターJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounCovers the everyday sense of 'lighter' as the small device for producing a flame, e.g. for cigarettes. This is the word you want in almost any ordinary conversation about lighters.
  お客様きゃくさま、テーブルにライターをお忘わすれですよ。↗

  Sir, you have left your lighter on the table.
• はしけ
  nounRefers to a lighter in the nautical sense: a flat-bottomed barge used to carry goods or baggage to and from ships. Usually written in kana alone, and less common than ライター for 'lighter'.
• はしけ船はしけぶね
  nounAnother name for the barge-type lighter, a flat-bottomed boat for transporting cargo or baggage. Less common, and largely interchangeable with はしけ for this watercraft sense.
• 回船かいせん
  nounPrimarily means a small cargo vessel; 'lighter' is a secondary gloss. For the flat-bottomed lighter boat it is only a marginal choice, and it is seldom the word you want for this sense.
• 荷船にぶね
  nounMainly means a freighter or freight boat, with 'lighter' as a secondary sense. As a way to say 'lighter' it is less common and marginal compared with はしけ.

For the small fire-starting device, use 「ライター」; the other four are nautical words for a flat-bottomed cargo boat or barge, and are less common choices for 'lighter' in that sense.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• ライターlighter
• はしけlighter
• はしけ船はしけぶねlighter
• 回船かいせん(small) cargo vessel
• 荷船にぶねfreighter
• 三板サンパンsampan (wooden boat)
• 達磨船だるませんbarge
• 上荷船うわにぶねsmall boat used for unloading goods from a large anchored boat (Edo period)
• 似たりにたりbarge