abschöpfen
German, verb
abschöpfen is spelled A-B-S-C-H-Ö-P-F-E-N (10 letters) and appears about once in every 3 million words in written German, the 77,779th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abschöpfen is a German verb meaning “to skim (to remove the top layer of a liquid, usually grease or foam)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Abschöpfen is a different word: “gerund of abschöpfen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas, das sich oben (auf einer Flüssigkeit) befindet, von dort mittels Schöpfen entfernen”.
What does abschöpfen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to skim (to remove the top layer of a liquid, usually grease or foam)
Sahne abschöpfen
- 2
derogatoryto take a part away
Stimmen abschöpfen
- 3
derogatoryto discretely obtain large amounts of (personal) information / personal data
noun
- 1
neutergerund of abschöpfen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas, das sich oben (auf einer Flüssigkeit) befindet, von dort mittels Schöpfen entfernen 2. Geld aus dem Kreislauf entnehmen (und es nicht wieder investieren) 3. unbemerkt Informationen sammeln
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 abschöpfen
- schöpft ab present singular third-person
- schöpfte ab past
- abgeschöpft participle past
- haben auxiliary
- abschöpfend participle present
- abzuschöpfen infinitive infinitive-zu
- schöpfe ab first-person indicative present
- schöpfen ab first-person indicative plural
- schöpfst ab indicative present second-person
- schöpfest ab second-person singular subjunctive
- schöpfet ab plural second-person subjunctive
- schöpften ab first-person indicative plural
- schöpftest ab indicative preterite second-person
- schöpftet ab indicative plural preterite
- schöpf ab! imperative singular
- schöpfe ab! imperative singular
- schöpft ab! imperative plural
- abgeschöpft haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is abschöpfen in German?
abschöpfen appears about once in every 3 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).