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schleichen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
schleichen, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
schleichen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
schleichen you have here. The definition of the word
schleichen will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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German
Etymology
From Old High German slīhhan, from Proto-Germanic *slīkaną. Compare English slink.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʃlaɪ̯çən/
- Hyphenation: schlei‧chen
Verb
schleichen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present schleicht, past tense schlich, past participle geschlichen, auxiliary sein)
- (intransitive) to move in a quiet and inconspicuous manner, hence often slowly and/or ducked: to crawl, to sneak, to steal, to prowl, to creep, to slither (of a snake)
1995, “Heirate mich”, performed by Rammstein:Man sieht ihn um die Kirche schleichen
Seit einem Jahr ist er allein
Die Trauer nahm ihm alle Sinne
Schläft jede Nacht bei ihrem Stein- You see him sneaking around the church
He's been alone for a year
The sadness took away all his senses
He sleeps by her headstone every night
- (reflexive, with some adverb of location) to go somewhere in the above manner
- (informal, intransitive) to move slowly (especially in a car)
- Was schleicht der da so? ― Why’s that guy driving so slowly?
- (informal, reflexive) to slink away; to leave meekly or sheepishly
- (Austria, Bavaria, Southern Germany, reflexive, colloquial or vulgar, dismissal) to piss off
- Schleich dich! ― Piss off!
Conjugation
Conjugation of
schleichen (class 1
strong, auxiliary
sein)
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of
schleichen (class 1
strong, auxiliary
sein)
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Further reading