scheppern

German

Etymology

17th century, of onomatopoeic origin, apparently first in Upper German dialects.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃɛpərn/, [ˈʃɛ.pɐn]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: schep‧pern

Verb

scheppern (weak, third-person singular present scheppert, past tense schepperte, past participle gescheppert, auxiliary haben)

  1. (intransitive) to clank, clash, clatter, rattle (make the sound of hard objects, e.g. metal or glass, striking each other loudly and/or repeatedly)
    Synonyms: klirren, krachen, rasseln, klappern
  2. (impersonal, colloquial) there to be a (car) accident, usually without harm to life and limb
    Fahr mal eben was langsamer, da vorne hat’s gescheppert.
    Better drive a little slower right now, there’s been an accident over there.

Conjugation

Derived terms

  • Geschepper
  • zerscheppern

Further reading

  • scheppern” in Duden online
  • scheppern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache