knække

Danish

Etymology

Cognate with Norwegian knekke, Swedish knäcka. Probably of onomatopoeic origin. Compare also German knacken (“to crack”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkʰn̥ɛɡ̊ə]

Verb

knække (imperative knæk, infinitive at knække, present tense knækker, past tense knækkede, perfect tense or (unofficial) knak)

1. (transitive) to break (make a thing fall apart)
2. (transitive) to break (break down a person mentally or economically)
3. (transitive) to suffer a fracture in
4. (transitive) to solve (a problem, a code)
5. (intransitive) to crack, break (fall apart)
6. (intransitive) to crack, break (shift suddenly)
7. (intransitive) to give up

Conjugation

Inflection of knække

	present	past
simple	knækker	knækkede or (unofficial) knak
perfect	har or er knækket	havde or var knækket
passive	knækkes	knækkedes
participle	knækkende	knækket
imperative	knæk	—
infinitive	knække	—
auxiliary verb	have or være	—
gerund	knækken	—

References

• “knække” in Den Danske Ordbog