Verschüttete

Verschüttete is the past participle and attributive adjective derived from the German verb verschütten, meaning to spill or pour out from a container. As an adjective, verschüttete describes something that has been spilled. The form is declined to agree with the noun it modifies: eine verschüttete Tasse (feminine singular), der verschüttete Kaffee (masculine singular), das verschüttete Wasser (neuter singular); plural: die verschütteten Getränke.

Etymology and usage notes: The word comes from the prefix ver- and the verb schütten. It is commonly used for liquids and other substances that have been spilled, poured out, or otherwise displaced from their container. In everyday language it can describe accidents in the kitchen, laboratories, or dining settings, as in a verschüttete Flüssigkeit or eine verschüttete Substanz. The predicative form is verschüttet, as in Der Kaffee ist verschüttet.

Grammatical characteristics: When used attributively, verschüttete takes endings according to gender, number, and case, for example: eine verschüttete Tasse (nominative feminine singular), ein verschütteter Kaffee (nominative masculine singular), das verschüttete Wasser (nominative neuter singular), die verschütteten Getränke (nominative plural). In predicative position after a linking verb, the past participle verschüttet or verschüttet bleibt depending on the construction, e.g., Der Kaffee ist verschüttet.

See also: Verschüttung (geology and related contexts where materials are deposited or buried), Verschütten (to spill). Translations include spilled, spilt, or spilled-out, depending on context.