ruckeln
German, verb
ruckeln is spelled R-U-C-K-E-L-N (7 letters) and appears about once in every 2 million words in written German, the 69,095th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ruckeln is a German verb meaning “to shake, to jerk repeatedly (e.g. of a train or a disturbed TV picture)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Ruckeln is a different word: “bucking, shaking, jerking movements, jerking, jiggling, shuddering…”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich in heftigen, abgehackten Bewegungen meist hin- und herbewegen oder wackeln”.
What does ruckeln mean in English?
verb
- 1
to shake, to jerk repeatedly (e.g. of a train or a disturbed TV picture)
noun
- 1
neutergerund of ruckeln
- 2
neuterbucking, shaking, jerking movements, jerking, jiggling, shuddering (moving in a halting or spasmodic manner)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich in heftigen, abgehackten Bewegungen meist hin- und herbewegen oder wackeln 2. mit kurzen Unterbrechungen angezeigt werden; nicht flüssig dargestellt werden
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 ruckeln
- ruckelt present singular third-person
- ruckelte past
- geruckelt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- ruckelnd participle present
- ruckle first-person indicative present
- ruckele first-person indicative present
- ruckel first-person indicative present
- ruckelst indicative present second-person
- ruckelest second-person singular subjunctive
- rucklest second-person singular subjunctive
- ruckelet plural second-person subjunctive
- rucklet plural second-person subjunctive
- ruckelten first-person indicative plural
- ruckeltest indicative preterite second-person
- ruckeltet indicative plural preterite
- ruckle! imperative singular
- ruckele! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to ruckeln
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is ruckeln in German?
ruckeln appears about once in every 2 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).