This kanji comes from the picture of a bow. The meaning is “to pull”. To catch a cold is basically “pulling in a cold”.
The sound “hiku” is also used in the context of “pulling out information” from a dictionary.
Lastly, the sound is used in a slightly unusual way: “you are pulling the piano”. What is meant is that the piano is a string instrument and although the modern piano is a hammer instrument, the earliest pianos, or harpsichords, were plucking instruments; the strings were plucked or pulled.
Even the violin as a string instrument is “pulled” by the bow. The things you learn on this website!
Examples:
私は風をひきました。
わたしはかぜをひきました。
watashi wa kaze o hikimashita
I caught a cold.
辞書をひきました。
じしょをひきました。
jisho o hikimashita
I looked it up in a dictionary.
お母さんはピアノをひきました。
おかあさんはピアノをひきました。
okaasan wa piano o hikimashita
Mum played the piano.
That makes all perfect sense. However, there is one catch: the kanji for the three ひきます are all slightly different! They do contain that picture of the bow, but they have something relevant attached. Only the sound is exactly the same. Rats! (Just write the word in hiragana)
Let’s finish on a positive note:
When you walk into a small space you will see:
Thank goodness! You now know what to do!
Lami Japan 