verkneifen

German

Etymology

ver- +‎ kneifen

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [fɛɐ̯ˈknaɪ̯fn̩]
  • Hyphenation: ver‧knei‧fen
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

verkneifen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present verkneift, past tense verkniff, past participle verkniffen, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive, dative reflexive) to suppress, to stifle
    Ich konnte mir ein Lächeln nicht verkneifen.
    I couldn't stifle a smile any longer.
  2. (rare) to squeeze together

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading