German word

stürzen

Pronunciation

IPA/ˈʃtʏʁt͡sn̩/

Meaning

  • verbfall

Example

Er stürzte von der Leiter und verletzte sich.

He fell from the ladder and injured himself.

Illustration for stürzen (fall)

More examples

Er stürzte aus dem Sattel und stand gleich wieder auf.

He fell out of the saddle and stood up again right away.

Core concept

A body or value drops sharply and suddenly, either by its own motion or because force sends it downward.

Common phrases

  • aus dem Bett stürzen

    fall out of bed

  • aus dem Sattel stürzen

    fall out of the saddle

  • von der Bühne stürzen

    fall off the stage

Similar words

fallen: To move downward naturally from a higher position.
sinken: To become gradually lower over time.
einbrechen: To suffer a sudden, major decline in value, demand, or activity.
abstürzen: To fall abruptly and violently, often from a great height.

Definition in German

plötzlich und mit großer Kraft nach unten fallen oder jemanden/etwas gewaltsam zu Boden bringen; auch: Preise oder Werte schnell und stark sinken

Word origin

Stürzen comes from Middle High German stürzen and belongs to the same German word family as Sturz, preserving the basic idea of a fall.

Usage tips

  • The intransitive verb takes no object for a fall, but the transitive pattern jemanden oder etwas zu Boden stürzen means to knock someone or something down.

Other meanings

  • knock ___ downverb
  • push ___ offverb
  • plummetverb

Opposites

Related words

  • der Absturzcrashnoun

Word lists with this word