beißen

== German == === Alternative forms === beyßen, beyssen (obsolete spelling) beissen (Switzerland, Liechtenstein, sometimes also Luxembourg, South Tyrol) === Etymology === From Middle High German bīȥen, from Old High German bīȥan, from Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydt (“to split”). Cognate with Dutch bijten, Low German bieten, English bite, Danish bide, Swedish bita. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbaɪ̯sən/, [ˈbäe̯sn̩] Hyphenation: bei‧ßen Rhymes: -aɪ̯sən, -aɪ̯sn̩ === Verb === beißen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present beißt, past tense biss, past participle gebissen, auxiliary haben) (transitive or intransitive) to bite (transitive or intransitive) to sting; to burn; to be sharp; to be spicy (reflexive, slightly informal) to clash; to jar; to conflict [with mit (+ dative) ‘with something’ or plural subject] (of colors, plans, etc.) Rot und Rosa beißen sich. ― Red and pink clash. ==== Usage notes ==== In English, bloodsuckers are said to “bite”. In German, beißen is generally used with crawling bloodsuckers only, while stechen (“to sting”) is used with flying bloodsuckers. Thus, you speak of a Flohbiss (“flea bite”), but a Mückenstich (“mosquito bite”). ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Derived terms ==== === Further reading === “beißen”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[1] (in German) “beißen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon “beißen” in Duden online “beißen” in OpenThesaurus.de