German edit

Etymology edit

ab- +‎ drehen. Compare English offthrow.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˈapdreːən]
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: ab‧dre‧hen
  • Rhymes: -eːən

Verb edit

abdrehen (weak, third-person singular present dreht ab, past tense drehte ab, past participle abgedreht, auxiliary haben)

  1. (intransitive, nautical) to veer
    Das Schiff drehte nach Westen ab.The ship veered to the west.
  2. (intransitive, aviation) to peel off
    Der Tower befahl dem Flugzeug abzudrehen.The control tower ordered the plane to peel off.
  3. to twist off
    Sie drehte den Stengel vom Apfel ab.She twisted the stem off the apple.
  4. to cut off the supply of something (originally referring only to water and gas supply which is shut off by closing a valve, later extended to power supply and figuratively flow of funds)
    Synonyms: zudrehen, einstellen
    Wenn man die Rechnung nicht zahlt, wird das Gas abgedreht.If you don't pay your bill, the gas supply will be cut off.
    Als die Bank den Geldhahn abdrehte, ging die Firma in Konkurs.When the bank cut off funds the company went bankrupt.
  5. (by extension, chiefly Austria) to shut off, to switch off, to turn off (appliance, light, mechanism, functionality etc.)
    Synonyms: abschalten, ausdrehen, ausmachen, ausschalten, ausstellen
    Dreh den Fernseher ab!Turn off the TV!
  6. (by extension, chiefly Austria) to abort something, to thwart, to discontinue something
    Der Untersuchungsausschuss wurde abgedreht.The investigation committee was thwarted.
  7. (by extension, colloquial) to lose the plot
    Synonym: durchdrehen
    Der dreht jetzt völlig ab.He's losing the plot.

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

  • abdrehen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • abdrehen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • abdrehen” in Duden online
  • abdrehen” in OpenThesaurus.de