stechen
German, verb/ˈʃtɛçn̩/
stechen is spelled S-T-E-C-H-E-N (7 letters) and appears 6.6 times per million words in written German, the 9,876th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Stechen is a German verb meaning “to be sharp, to stick out” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “einen spitzen Gegenstand wie eine Nadel in einen anderen Gegenstand treiben”.
What does stechen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to be sharp, to stick out
- 2
to stick (someone or something); to poke
- 3
to sting; to bite; to prick
- 4
to cut; to chop
- 5
to burn
- 6
to take; to trump; to capture
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. einen spitzen Gegenstand wie eine Nadel in einen anderen Gegenstand treiben 2. jemanden oder sich selbst durch einen Stich verletzen 3. als Tier (Biene) oder auch Pflanze (Dornen, Nadeln) Personen mit stechenden Werkzeugen verletzen 4. Schmerzen oder Ähnliches, die sich wie ein Stich anfühlen, bereiten
noun: 1. durchdringender Schmerz, Stich 2. in einem Sportwettkampf die Entscheidung um den Sieg zwischen den punktgleich Führenden 3. das ruckartige Zustoßen mit einem scharfen Gegenstand
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 stechen
- sticht present singular third-person
- stach past
- gestochen participle past
- stäche past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 4 strong
- stechend participle present
- steche first-person indicative present
- stichst indicative present second-person
- stecht indicative plural present
- stechest second-person singular subjunctive
- stechet plural second-person subjunctive
- stachen first-person indicative plural
- stächen first-person formal plural
- stachst indicative preterite second-person
- stacht indicative plural preterite
- stächest formal rare second-person
- stächst formal rare second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce stechen?
- /ˈʃtɛçn̩/
- /ˈʃtɛçən/
- [ˈʃtɛçn̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to stechen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is stechen in German?
stechen appears 6.6 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).