ausheben

Ausheben is a German verb with the prefix aus- and the stem heben. It is a separable verb, which means in present tense the prefix moves to the end of the clause (ich hebe … aus, er hebt … aus). The past participle is ausgehoben, used with haben in the perfect and pluperfect (ich habe die Münze aus der Dose gehoben).

Meanings and usage

The primary sense is physical removal from surrounding material. It commonly describes digging or lifting something out of the ground or from its surroundings, for example: den Boden ausheben (to excavate a hole or trench), eine Grube ausheben (to dig out a pit), or eine Wurzel ausheben (to pull a root out). In construction or archaeology, ausheben denotes removing earth to expose or access something beneath the surface.

A second use covers lifting or extracting something that is contained in another object. For instance, man lifts a component from inside a device or removes an item from a container: etwas aus etwas ausheben. In everyday language this can be expressed as Ich hebe die Münze aus der Dose. In perfect: Ich habe die Münze aus der Dose gehoben.

Grammatical notes

As a separable verb, ausheben appears with the prefix separated in finite tenses (Ich hebe … aus; Wir heben … aus). The past participle is ausgehoben, e.g., Er hat den Boden bereits ausgehoben. Related verbs include ausgraben (to dig out, often with a stronger sense of unearthing) and herausheben (to lift out, to pull out).

Translations

Common English equivalents include to dig out, to excavate, to lift out, and to extract. Depending on context, ausheben conveys both physical removal from the environment and the act of extracting an object from within another.

See also: ausgraben, herausheben.