knabbern

/[ˈknabɐn]/ verb

Letters

8 characters

Frequency Rank

#31,128

in German word usage

Misspellings

11

tracked variants

Confusables

3

similar word pairs

knabbern is aGermanverb. It means: kleine, mundgerechte Teile von einem in der Regel harten Nahrungsstück oder ähnlichen Gegenständen abbeißen, essen, daran nagen Pronounced [ˈknabɐn]. Often confused with Knaben and Krabben.

Key facts for knabbern
PropertyValue
Headwordknabbern
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈknabɐn]
Letters8
Frequency rank#31,128
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of knabbern in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for knabbern is 8 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈknabɐn]. Corpus data places it at rank #31,128 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "kleine, mundgerechte Teile von einem in der Regel harten Nahrungsstück oder ähnlichen Gegenständen abbeißen, essen, daran nagen".

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for knabbern, with forms such as "kanbbern", "kknabbern", and "knabbenr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Knaben", "Krabben", "krabbeln", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is knabbern, spelled K-N-A-B-B-E-R-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    kleine, mundgerechte Teile von einem in der Regel harten Nahrungsstück oder ähnlichen Gegenständen abbeißen, essen, daran nagen

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: kanbbern,kknabbern,knabbenr,knabbernn,knabberrn,knabbren,knabebrn,knabern,knbabern,knnabbern,nkabbern

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for knabbern

Misspelling Variants of "knabbern"

kanbbern8kknabbern9knabbenr8knabbernn9knabberrn9knabbren8knabebrn8knabern7
Misspelling Variants of "knabbern"

Frequency rank: #31,128 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "knabbern"?
"knabbern" is spelled K-N-A-B-B-E-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈknabɐn].
What does "knabbern" mean?
As a verb, "knabbern" means: kleine, mundgerechte Teile von einem in der Regel harten Nahrungsstück oder ähnlichen Gegenständen abbeißen, essen, daran nagen
What words are commonly confused with "knabbern"?
"knabbern" is commonly confused with "Knaben", "Krabben", "krabbeln". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "knabbern"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "knabbern" is [ˈknabɐn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "knabbern" come from?
"knabbern" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter K in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.