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knacken. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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knacken in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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German
Etymology
From Middle High German knacken, probably ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *knokōn (“to knock”). Related to Middle Low German knaken, knakken, knacken, German Low German knacken. Compare also Middle Low German knicken (“to bend, snap”).
Pronunciation
Verb
knacken (weak, third-person singular present knackt, past tense knackte, past participle geknackt, auxiliary haben)
- (intransitive) to make a cracking sound
- Synonym: knacksen
- Die Wurst knackte beim Reinbeissen. ― The sausage made a cracking sound when bitten.
- (transitive) to crack (open)
- Er knackte die Nuss. ― He cracked the nut.
- (transitive, figuratively) to crack (a mystery, secret, etc.); to persuade (to reveal something)
- Sie knackte den Code. ― She cracked the code.
- Ich kann ihn knacken. ― I can get him to open up.
- (transitive) to pick (a lock)
- (intransitive, chiefly Germany, regional, informal) to sleep
- Mach' nicht solchen Lärm, er knackt gerade. ― Don't make such a noise, he's sleeping.
Conjugation
Conjugation of
knacken (
weak, auxiliary
haben)
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of
knacken (
weak, auxiliary
haben)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “knacken” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “knacken” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “knacken” in Duden online
- “knacken” in OpenThesaurus.de