abreiben
German, verb
abreiben is spelled A-B-R-E-I-B-E-N (8 letters) and appears about once in every 4 million words in written German, the 95,383rd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abreiben is a German verb meaning “to rub off, scuff, or abrade” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Abreiben is a different word: “gerund of abreiben”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “durch Reiben reinigen, Schmutz oder Ähnliches durch Reiben entfernen”.
What does abreiben mean in English?
verb
- 1
to rub off, scuff, or abrade
- 2
to rub
- 3
to grate
noun
- 1
neutergerund of abreiben
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. durch Reiben reinigen, Schmutz oder Ähnliches durch Reiben entfernen 2. mit einem Handtuch, einem Lappen trocken reiben 3. durch Reibung beschädigen, abnutzen 4. mit einer Reibe bearbeiten, kleine Teilchen mit einer Reibe entfernen
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 abreiben
- reibt ab present singular third-person
- rieb ab past
- abgerieben participle past
- haben auxiliary
- 1 strong
- abreibend participle present
- abzureiben infinitive infinitive-zu
- reibe ab first-person indicative present
- reiben ab first-person indicative plural
- reibst ab indicative present second-person
- reibest ab second-person singular subjunctive
- reibet ab plural second-person subjunctive
- rieben ab first-person indicative plural
- riebe ab first-person formal rare
- riebst ab indicative preterite second-person
- riebt ab indicative plural preterite
- riebest ab formal rare second-person
- riebet ab formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to abreiben
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is abreiben in German?
abreiben appears about once in every 4 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).