greifen

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Greifen

German

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Middle High German grîfen, from Old High German grīfan, from Proto-West Germanic *grīpan, from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- (to grab, grasp).

Pronunciation

[edit]
  • IPA(key): /ˈɡʁaɪ̯fən/, [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fən], [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fn̩], [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fɱ̩]
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

[edit]

greifen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present greift, past tense griff, past participle gegriffen, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive) to grab; to grasp; to grip (something)
  2. (transitive) to grab; to seize; to snatch (in an aggressive way)
  3. (intransitive) to reach; to grab
    an etwas greifento touch something (literally, “to grab onto something”)
    nach etwas greifento reach for something
    zu etwas greifento reach for something
    in etwas greifento reach into something
  4. (transitive) to capture (someone)
    Synonyms: schnappen, fassen
  5. (transitive, music, chords) to strike
    Synonym: anschlagen
    • 1931, Arthur Schnitzler, Flucht in die Finsternis, S. Fischer Verlag, page 14:
      Er begab sich ins Klavierzimmer, griff ein paar Akkorde auf dem verstimmten Flügel, verließ aber bald wieder den Raum, [...]
      He went to the piano room, struck a few chords on the out-of-tune grand piano, but soon left the room again, [...]
  6. (intransitive) to take hold; to bite
    Trotz des schlechten Wetters griffen die Reifen hervorragendThe tires did bite perfectly despite the bad weather.

Conjugation

[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
  • greifen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • greifen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • greifen” in Duden online
  • greifen” in OpenThesaurus.de