stecken

See also: Stecken and stécken

German

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old High German steckōn, a geminated derivative of stehhan, whence modern stechen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃtɛkən/, [ˈʃtɛkən], [ˈʃtɛkŋ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ste‧cken

Verb

1. (transitive) to stick; to put; to insert
2. (transitive) to pin
3. (intransitive) to stick; to be stuck
4. (intransitive) to be (hiding)

   Nur seine Eltern und zwei gute Freunde wissen, dass er hinter der Seite steckt. ― Only his parents and two good friends know he is hiding behind the side.

Usage notes

• Transitively, stecken has always been a weak verb.
• Intransitively, the past participle has also always been weak (gesteckt). The (secondarily developed) strong past tense forms were still used in formal writing until some time ago, but have now become archaic and even unintelligible to a good deal of native speakers. Hence, stecken is now a consistently weak verb in general usage.

Conjugation

Weak conjugation

Strong conjugation

Derived terms

• abstecken
• verstecken
• in der Zwickmühle stecken

Related terms

• Stecken
• Stecker

Further reading

• “stecken” in Duden online