fressen

See also: Fressen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German frezzen, from Old High German frezzan, firezzan, from Proto-Germanic *fraetaną. Cognate with Dutch vreten, English fret, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fraitan), Swedish fräta.

Verb

fressen (class 5 strong, third-person singular simple present frisst, past tense fraß, past participle gefressen, past subjunctive fräße, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive or intransitive, of an animal) to eat; to feed on; to devour
  2. (transitive or intransitive, of a person, pejorative) to stuff oneself; to gorge oneself; to eat like a pig
    Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral.
    First comes the stomach, then comes ethics.
  3. (figuratively, chiefly reflexive with durch) to eat away (e.g. metal)
  4. (figuratively, transitive) to consume, to guzzle, to burn (e.g. fuel, money)
  5. (transitive, colloquial, perfect only) to despise, to have a pet peeve against
    Den hab ich ja gefressen! ― I can’t stand that guy! (literally, “I have eaten that one.”)

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → English: fress (or from Yiddish)

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.