knebeln

== German == === Etymology === 17th century, derived from Knebel, from Middle High German knebel, from Old High German knebil. The word originally meant a stick used to tighten a tie or to bind something to, later also the tie itself. Dutch knevelen shows the same semantic development, being used chiefly for “to gag”, but also in the broader sense “to tie up”. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈkneːbəln/ === Verb === knebeln (weak, third-person singular present knebelt, past tense knebelte, past participle geknebelt, auxiliary haben) (transitive) to gag (tie a piece of cloth around someone’s mouth to prevent them from shouting) (transitive, less common, not fully standard) to hog-tie (tie up someone’s arms and legs to prevent them from moving) (transitive, figurative) to hog-tie; to render helpless; to oppress; to enslave ==== Usage notes ==== Most dictionaries give only the sense “to gag”, but the sense “to hog-tie” is attestable from Early Modern German to the present. Often both ideas also go hand in hand, especially in the combination gefesselt und geknebelt (“hog-tied and gagged”). Note that fesseln as such is broader in meaning, as it can also mean “to handcuff” or “to tie to something immovable”, which knebeln never does. ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Derived terms ==== Knebelvertrag ==== Related terms ==== Knebel === Further reading === “knebeln”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[1] (in German) “knebeln” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon “knebeln” in Duden online