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schleifen

/ˈʃlaɪ̯fən/ verb C1
  1. to whet, grind (smooth and/or sharpen a surface by abrasion) · Sie hatten den Diamanten tausendmal geschliffen, bis dieser glänzte und funkelte. They had cut the diamond a thousand times until it shone and sparkled.· Der Rand muss mit Schmirgelpapier geschliffen werden. The edge must be sanded with sandpaper.
  2. to drill, train, especially in a vexatious manner (figuratively)
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Verb forms

Infinitive
schleifen
Present (er)
schleift
Präteritum (er)
schliff
Perfekt (er)
hat geschliffen
Infinitive with zu
zu schleifen

A strong or irregular verb: its stem changes in some forms, so learn its main forms by heart.

From the library

Ganze Nächte lang schrieb sie seine Beobachtungen nieder, berechnete Positionen und schliff gemeinsam mit ihm Spiegel für immer größere Teleskope.
Caroline Herschel, die Kometenjägerin, p. 1 · C1

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and forms from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.