drückt

Drückt is the third-person singular present tense form of the German verb drücken. The verb drücken generally means to press, push, or squeeze, and can also convey applying physical or figurative pressure. In addition to physical pressing, it can appear in phrases like sich drücken (to shirk or avoid) or using idioms such as Daumen drücken (to keep one’s fingers crossed, i.e., to wish someone luck).

In use, drücken is transitive when there is a direct object, as in den Knopf drücken (to press the button) or gegen die Tür drücken (to push against the door). The reflexive form sich drücken means to avoid something or to dodge responsibility, as in Er drückt sich vor Aufgaben. The verb also appears in various prepositional constructions, such as Druck ausüben (to exert pressure) or unter Druck setzen (to put under pressure).

The perfect tense uses haben as the auxiliary, with the past participle gedrückt: Er hat den Knopf gedrückt. This form is easy to confuse with gedruckt, the past participle of drucken, which means to print. The distinction is important in written German: gedrückt refers to pressing, while gedruckt refers to printing.

Etymologically, drücken comes from Germanic origins and has cognates in related languages, such as Dutch drukken, generally sharing the core sense of pressing or applying pressure. The term remains common in technical, everyday, and figurative language, reflecting both physical actions and broader concepts of influence or emphasis.