Abgreifen

Abgreifen is a German verb that denotes the act of grasping, seizing, or removing something quickly, often from another person or from a source. The prefix ab- conveys a sense of taking away or detaching, while greifen means to grasp or seize. The term is used in varied contexts, ranging from concrete gestures to more abstract or technical meanings.

In its most common sense, abgreifen describes physical grabbing or theft: for example, einer Dieb griff dem Mann das Portemonnaie ab. In sports, it is used to describe intercepting an opponent’s action, such as einen Pass abgreifen, meaning to steal or cut off a pass. In security and information contexts, abgreifen can refer to clandestine access to data or signals, for instance Gespräche abgreifen or Daten abgreifen, implying illicit interception.

Figuratively, abgreifen can also mean to siphon off a portion of something, such as Kunden abgreifen or Gewinne abgreifen, indicating taking a share from a larger pool, often with a competitive or opportunistic tone.

Grammar and usage notes: abgreifen is a separable-prefix verb; present tense forms include ich greife ab, du greifst ab, er greift ab, wir greifen ab, ihr greift ab, sie greifen ab. The past participle is abgegriffen and it is used with auxiliary haben (er hat abgegriffen). Depending on context, abgreifen carries neutral to negative connotations, especially in cases of theft or covert data access.

See also: abfangen, abkupfern, greifen.