abzapfen
German, verb
abzapfen is spelled A-B-Z-A-P-F-E-N (8 letters) and appears about once in every 7 million words in written German, the 140,468th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abzapfen is a German verb meaning “of a liquid, to draw off, to tap” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Abzapfen is a different word: “gerund of abzapfen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “Flüssigkeit aus einem Behälter, einem Gefäß oder einer Leitung entnehmen (möglicherweise ohne…”.
What does abzapfen mean in English?
verb
- 1
of a liquid, to draw off, to tap
- 2
colloquialof blood, to draw
Blut abzapfen
- 3
derogatoryslangof something other than a liquid, to siphon off (to take for oneself through morally or legally questionable means)
- 4
rareto empty slowly by tapping continually
noun
- 1
neutergerund of abzapfen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Flüssigkeit aus einem Behälter, einem Gefäß oder einer Leitung entnehmen (möglicherweise ohne Erlaubnis/unbefugt) 2. jemandem oder etwas fortlaufend Energie, Ressourcen oder Geld entziehen 3. Informationen oder Wissen von jemandem erlangen (möglicherweise gegen dessen Willen); jemanden gezielt ausfragen
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 abzapfen
- zapft ab present singular third-person
- zapfte ab past
- abgezapft participle past
- haben auxiliary
- abzapfend participle present
- abzuzapfen infinitive infinitive-zu
- zapfe ab first-person indicative present
- zapfen ab first-person indicative plural
- zapfst ab indicative present second-person
- zapfest ab second-person singular subjunctive
- zapfet ab plural second-person subjunctive
- zapften ab first-person indicative plural
- zapftest ab indicative preterite second-person
- zapftet ab indicative plural preterite
- zapf ab! imperative singular
- zapfe ab! imperative singular
- zapft ab! imperative plural
- abgezapft haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is abzapfen in German?
abzapfen appears about once in every 7 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).