schleichen

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German

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Etymology

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From Old High German slīhhan, from Proto-Germanic *slīkaną. Compare English slink.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈʃlaɪ̯çən/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: schlei‧chen

Verb

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schleichen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present schleicht, past tense schlich, past participle geschlichen, auxiliary sein)

  1. (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
  2. (reflexive, with some adverb of location) to go somewhere in the above manner
  3. (informal, intransitive) to move slowly (especially in a car)
    Was schleicht der da so?Why’s that guy driving so slowly?
  4. (informal, reflexive) to slink away; to leave meekly or sheepishly
  5. (Austria, Bavaria, Southern Germany, reflexive, colloquial or vulgar, dismissal) to piss off
    Schleich dich!Piss off!

Conjugation

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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