German

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Etymology

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Iterative to a Central German variant of zwängen (to squeeze, force into). Compare Central Franconian quengele, which apart from “to grizzle” also retains the literal meaning “to squeeze by pushing repeatedly”. For the onset qu- compare quer.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkvɛŋəln/, [ˈkʋɛŋl̩n]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: quen‧geln

Verb

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quengeln (weak, third-person singular present quengelt, past tense quengelte, past participle gequengelt, auxiliary haben)

  1. to whinge, to grizzle, to nag, to niggle

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • quengeln” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • quengeln” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • quengeln” in Duden online