German edit

Etymology edit

From Middle High German schröpfen, schrepfen, schreffen, schrefen, schrapfen, schraffen, from the merger of Old High German *skrepfan, *skreffan, from Proto-West Germanic *skrepan and Old High German *skrapfen, *skraffen, from Proto-West Germanic *skrappjan.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˈʃʁœpfn̩]
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: schröp‧fen

Verb edit

schröpfen (weak, third-person singular present schröpft, past tense schröpfte, past participle geschröpft, auxiliary haben)

  1. (medicine, transitive) to bleed, cup
  2. (figuratively, transitive) to bleed, fleece, milk (To take large amounts of money often by using tricks.)
    • 1903, Elisabeth von Heyking, Briefe, die ihn nicht erreichten, Verlag von Gebrüder Paetel, page 122:
      Nirgends wie in China hat jeder einzelne so viel Feinde, d. h. Leute, die auf ihn drücken, die etwas Schlimmes, das sie über ihn wissen, ausnutzen, um ihn zu schröpfen.
      Nowhere like in China, every single person has as many enemies, that is people, who press on him, who exploit something bad they know about him for fleecing him.

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit