erschleichen

German

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German erslîchen. By surface analysis, er- +‎ schleichen.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɛɐ̯ˈʃlaɪ̯çn̩]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (Germany (Berlin)):(file)
  • Hyphenation: er‧schlei‧chen

Verb

erschleichen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present erschleicht, past tense erschlich, past participle erschlichen, auxiliary haben) (transitive)

  1. to obtain by fraud, to gain by trickery
    • 1997 [1996], Jürgen Roth, Die Russenmafia[1], Ullstein, →ISBN, page 157:
      Die Wirklichkeit kam später heraus. "Er erschlich sich eine Exportlizenz für Heizöl" []
      The truth came to light later on: "He fraudulently obtained an export licence for fuel oil" []

Usage notes

  • Often reinforced by a reflexive dative object, especially outside of formal contexts.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading