abpassen
German, verb/ˈapːasən/
abpassen is spelled A-B-P-A-S-S-E-N (8 letters) and appears about once in every 13 million words in written German, the 195,050th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abpassen is a German verb meaning “to watch for the right moment of doing something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “den geeigneten Zeitpunkt für etwas wählen”.
What does abpassen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to watch for the right moment of doing something
- 2
to catch or meet someone or something (after having watched for or having lain in wait; on purpose), to intercept
- 3
datedto adjust something in size, length, etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. den geeigneten Zeitpunkt für etwas wählen 2. eine Person durch geschickte Wahl des Zeitpunktes erreichen/ansprechen 3. etwas die geeigneten (Aus-)Maße verleihen
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of abpassen
- passt ab present singular third-person
- passte ab past
- abgepasst participle past
- haben auxiliary
- abpassend participle present
- abzupassen infinitive infinitive-zu
- passe ab first-person indicative present
- passen ab first-person indicative plural
- passest ab second-person singular subjunctive
- passet ab plural second-person subjunctive
- passten ab first-person indicative plural
- passtest ab indicative preterite second-person
- passtet ab indicative plural preterite
- pass ab! imperative singular
- passe ab! imperative singular
- passt ab! imperative plural
- abgepasst haben active infinitive perfect
- abgepasst werden processual-passive infinitive present
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce abpassen?
- /ˈapːasən/
- [ˈapˌpasn̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is abpassen in German?
abpassen appears about once in every 13 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).