どこに行きますか？超初心者向け日本語レッスン

What does “kaze o hiku” mean in Japanese?

To catch a cold in Japanese is 風邪を引く (kaze o hiku) — literally “to pull / draw a cold.” The verb 引く (hiku) normally means “pull” (a door, a rope), but paired with 風邪 (kaze, a cold) it’s the fixed way to say you’ve come down with one. So when you’re sick you say 風邪を引いています (“I have a cold”) — which is why the person in a mask is heading to the 病院 (clinic).

Keep the pairing together: it’s always 風邪を引く, never 風邪をする or 取る. Useful neighbours: 風邪気味 (“feeling a cold coming on”), 風邪を治す (“get over a cold”), and お大事に (“take care / get well”), the standard thing you say to someone who’s ill. 引く itself is a workhorse — it also does “look up” a word in a 辞書 (dictionary).