botsen

Botsen is a Dutch verb meaning to collide or crash into one another. It is commonly used to describe physical impacts, especially between vehicles, but it can also refer to any abrupt contact between objects. In addition to its literal sense, botsen is used metaphorically to indicate a clash of ideas or plans.

The corresponding noun botsing denotes the event of a collision. In perfect tenses, botsen typically takes the auxiliary hebben or zijn depending on usage, with the past participle gebotst. In common road-traffic contexts, you might hear that two cars have gebotst or that they zijn gebotst, depending on the emphasis and construction of the sentence.

Usage notes include that botsen appears in news reporting, insurance statements, and everyday narration of accidents. It is part of standard Dutch and interacts with related terms such as botsing (collision) and verschillende collisies of botsings that may appear in more technical or literary language. The verb can also describe non-physical clashes, such as disagreements or conflicts, when used figuratively.

In summary, botsen is a core Dutch verb used to describe both literal collisions and, sometimes, figurative clashes, with botsing as the conventional noun for the event.