absaufen

German

Etymology

ab- +‎ saufen

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈapˌzaʊ̯fən/
  • Audio (Germany (Berlin)):(file)
  • Hyphenation: ab‧sau‧fen

Verb

absaufen (class 2 strong, third-person singular present säuft ab, past tense soff ab, past participle abgesoffen, past subjunctive söffe ab, auxiliary sein) (intransitive, colloquial)

  1. to flood, to drown (to become submerged in or filled with water such that normal functioning is no longer possible)
    Beim letzten Hochwasser ist die halbe Innenstadt abgesoffen.
    The last time we had a flood, half the city center was totally flooded.
  2. (automotive, by extension) to stall (of an engine, or something powered by one)
    Synonym: abgewürgt werden
    Mir säuft beim Anfahren immer der Motor ab.
    The motor always stalls on me when I start.
  3. to sink, to go under (of water vessels or their cargo/passengers)
  4. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) to lose altitude

Conjugation

Derived terms

References

  • Michael Robert; Karin Doerr (2002), Nazi-Deutsch/Nazi-German: An English lexicon of the language of the Third Reich, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 51

Further reading

  • absaufen” in Duden online
  • absaufen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache