German

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Etymology

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18th century, borrowed from Low German quarren, from Middle Low German quarren, querren, quēren (to purr, hum, coo, growl), from Old Saxon *kwer(r)an, from Proto-West Germanic *kwer(ʀ)an. Cognate with Old High German queran (to moan, lament, sigh). Further origin uncertain. Perhaps onomatopoeic, or alternatively a byform of Proto-Germanic *kerzaną (to creak).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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quarren (weak, third-person singular present quarrt, past tense quarrte, past participle gequarrt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (dated) to make rough, creaky, squawky sounds
    Synonyms: knarren, knarzen, krähen, plärren, quaken, quäken, schnarren, schnattern
    • 1982, Gudrun Embacher, Der Narr Wohlgemuth, Berg / Starnberger See: Hohenstaufen Verlag, →ISBN, page 6:
      Unten im Talgrund flogen Krähen auf, laut scheltend quarrten sie über die Anhöhe hinweg und fielen auf der Eiche ein.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

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Further reading

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