kneifen
German, verb/ˈknaɪ̯fən/
kneifen is spelled K-N-E-I-F-E-N (7 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written German, the 46,552nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Kneifen is a German verb meaning “to pinch, to squeeze” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “die Haut eines Lebewesens stark zwischen zwei Fingern zusammenquetschen (um Schmerz zu erzeugen, auf sich…”.
What does kneifen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to pinch, to squeeze
- 2
to chicken out; to back out; to shirk
vor etwas kneifen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. die Haut eines Lebewesens stark zwischen zwei Fingern zusammenquetschen (um Schmerz zu erzeugen, auf sich aufmerksam zu machen oder Ähnliches) 2. etwas zusammenquetschen 3. vor einer Handlung zurückschrecken, entgegen der Erwartung oder dem Plan einen Rückzieher machen
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 kneifen
- kneift present singular third-person
- kniff past
- gekniffen participle past
- haben auxiliary
- 1 strong
- kneifend participle present
- kneife first-person indicative present
- kneifst indicative present second-person
- kneifest second-person singular subjunctive
- kneifet plural second-person subjunctive
- kniffen first-person indicative plural
- kniffe first-person formal rare
- kniffst indicative preterite second-person
- knifft indicative plural preterite
- kniffest formal rare second-person
- kniffet formal plural rare
- kneif imperative second-person singular
- kneife! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce kneifen?
- /ˈknaɪ̯fən/
- [ˈknaɪ̯fn̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to kneifen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is kneifen in German?
kneifen appears about once in every 1 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).