Fressen

Fressen is a German verb meaning to eat, with primary use for animals or in contexts that emphasize greed or forceful consumption. It is generally distinguished from essen, which is used for humans and in neutral or formal discussions of eating. In everyday speech, fressen can also be used about people in a humorous or emphatic way, for example, Er frisst wie ein Wolf (He eats like a wolf).

Grammatically, fressen is irregular. Conjugation in the present tense is ich fresse, du frisst, er frisst, wir fressen, ihr fresst, sie fressen. The past participle is gefressen, used with haben to form perfect tenses, as in Der Hund hat den Knochen gefressen.

In addition to its verbal use, fressen can function as a noun in several senses. Das Fressen refers to the act of eating, particularly in animals, or to animal feed or fodder in agricultural contexts. The phrase Fressen und Trinken appears in idiomatic or colloquial language to denote food and drink more generally and without a strict nutritional focus.

Etymology and related terms reflect its Germanic roots. The verb fressen shares its origin with related Germanic words for eating and, in many contexts, conveys notions of appetite, predation, or voracity. The noun form Fressen is closely connected to the verb and is used in technical writing, farming language, and everyday speech to describe eating behavior or animal sustenance.