zerkauen
[t͡sɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ən]
The verdict
“zerkauen” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - insbesondere Nahrung durch Kauen vor dem Hinunterschlucken gut zerkleinern
Corpus desk
Index DE-zerkauen · zerkauen · German
zerkauen · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "Z" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | zerkauen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ən] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „zerkauen“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
zerkauen is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for zerkauen in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is zerkauen, spelled Z-E-R-K-A-U-E-N.
Definition
- 1insbesondere Nahrung durch Kauen vor dem Hinunterschlucken gut zerkleinern
- 2etwas, meistens Unverdauliches durch Kauen beschädigen oder zerstören
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how zerkauen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Aber in einem Quadratkilometer Savannenboden Tansanias stecken 40 Tonnen Wurzeln. Wer sie kochen kann – statt roh zu zerkauen –, steigert bei vegetarischer Kost die Energieaufnahme um 43 Prozent.
Wer keine Zähne mehr im Mund hat, hat eine schlechte Überlebensprognose, wenn es darum geht, rohes Mammutfleisch zu zerkauen.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.