spülen
German, verb
spülen is spelled S-P-Ü-L-E-N (6 letters) and appears 3.0 times per million words in written German, the 17,848th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Spülen is a German verb meaning “to rinse or wash (dishes, clothes, etc.)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). Without its umlaut, spulen is a different word: “to spool”. On this page, Spulen is a different word: “plural of Spule”. With a capital, Spülen is a different word: “gerund of spülen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas mit Wasser oder anderer Flüssigkeit waschen”.
What does spülen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to rinse or wash (dishes, clothes, etc.)
Bitte spülen Sie Ihre Flaschen vor dem Recycling.
- 2
(of waves, tides, etc.) to wash, to sweep (something off a boat, onto shore)
In der Nacht wurde eine große Menge Seegras an den Strand gespült.
- 3
to flush (esp. the toilet)
- 4
to wash, to sweep, to flush
verb
- 1
to spool
noun
- 1
plural of Spule
noun
- 1
neutergerund of spülen
noun
- 1
plural of Spüle
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas mit Wasser oder anderer Flüssigkeit waschen 2. durch Wasser oder eine andere Flüssigkeit bewegen
verb: 1. etwas Langes, Dünnes von einem Kern (Spule) abwickeln oder es dort aufwickeln
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 spülen
- spült present singular third-person
- spülte past
- gespült participle past
- haben auxiliary
- spülend participle present
- spüle first-person indicative present
- spülst indicative present second-person
- spülest second-person singular subjunctive
- spület plural second-person subjunctive
- spülten first-person indicative plural
- spültest indicative preterite second-person
- spültet indicative plural preterite
- spül imperative second-person singular
- habe gespült first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gespült first-person indicative multiword-construction
- spül! imperative singular
- spüle! imperative singular
- spült! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to spülen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is spülen in German?
spülen appears 3.0 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).