schleifen

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃlaɪ̯fən/, [ˈʃlaɪ̯.fɱ̍], [-f(ə)n]

• Audio (Germany):

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• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: schlei‧fen
• Homophone: Schleifen

From Middle High German slīfen (strong verb), from Old High German slīfan, from Proto-West Germanic *slīpan, from Proto-Germanic *slīpaną (“to slide, to whet”).

The strong verb was restricted in Modern German to the sense “whet”, the sense “slide” was redistributed to the weak verb (etymology 2), although the split is not entirely clear-cut in practice (see usage notes below). This development was reinforced by the graphic (and later phonetic) merger, but is not conditional on it (cf. the same in Dutch slijpen and dialectal German verb pairs).

schleifen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present schleift, past tense schliff, past participle geschliffen, auxiliary haben)

1. to whet, grind (smooth and/or sharpen a surface by abrasion)

   Sie hatten den Diamanten tausendmal geschliffen, bis dieser glänzte und funkelte.

   They had cut the diamond a thousand times until it shone and sparkled.

   Der Rand muss mit Schmirgelpapier geschliffen werden.

   The edge must be sanded with sandpaper.

   Der Holzschnitzer schliff seine Messer jeden Abend bei Kerzenlicht.

   The woodcarver used to sharpen his knives every evening by candlelight.

2. (figurative) to drill, train, especially in a vexatious manner

   Synonym: drillen

• In the figurative sense, weak conjugation is also encountered.

• → Esperanto: ŝlifi

From Middle High German sleifen (weak verb), from Old High German *sleifen, from Proto-West Germanic *slaipijan (“to cause to slide, to drag”), originally causative of etymology 1 above. Doublet of schleppen, from Middle Low German slêpen. Also cognate with Dutch slepen.

schleifen (weak, third-person singular present schleift, past tense schleifte, past participle geschleift, auxiliary haben or sein)

1. (intransitive) to drag, to move across a surface, to slide heavily

   Die Schleppe ihres Brautkleids schleifte über den Boden.

   The train of her wedding dress dragged across the ground.

2. (transitive) to drag, pull (something) across a surface without lifting it (or lifting it for brief moments only)

   Sie schleiften die Truhe in die Zimmerecke.

   They dragged the chest to the corner of the room.

3. (transitive, figuratively) to drag (take someone to a place by force or persuasion)
4. (transitive) to raze (a castle or fortress)

   Gemäß dem Versailler Vertrag musste der Kölner Festungsring geschleift werden.

   In accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, the ring of fortifications around Cologne had to be razed.

• The auxiliary haben is possible in all contexts. In intransitive use, sein is possible alternatively.
• Strong conjugation is nonstandard for these senses, but is somewhat common in the vernacular, especially when the object is one that could cause abrasion on the surface over which it is dragged (this then creating a semantic connection with etymology 1).

• schleipfen (Upper German, obsolete)

• “schleifen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “schleifen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “schleifen (drillen, wetzen, gleiten)” in Duden online
• “schleifen (ziehen, zerstören, gehen)” in Duden online
• “schleifen” in OpenThesaurus.de