slæbe

Slæbe is a Danish verb meaning to drag, haul, or tow something along a surface. It is used for physical movement, such as pulling a box across the floor or towing a trailer, and it can also be used figuratively to describe exerting effort or pushing through a difficult task.

In standard Danish, the verb is conjugated with forms such as present tense slæber, past tense slæbte, and the supine slæbt, which is used with have/has in perfect constructions (har slæbt). The imperative form is slæb. The word is commonly found in everyday speech as well as in written Danish, in contexts ranging from manual work to descriptions of persistence.

Slæbe is of Germanic origin and has cognates in other Nordic languages. In Norwegian and Swedish, related verbs convey similar dragging or pulling meanings (for example, släpa in Swedish). Historical forms appear in Old Norse and other early Germanic varieties, reflecting a long-standing semantic field around moving objects by pulling.

Usage notes: Slæbe is a practical, everyday term in Danish. In some contexts, more specialized terms such as trække (to pull) or slepe (to tow, used more in nautical or formal contexts) may be preferred. Slæbe remains common in colloquial and descriptive language when the emphasis is on the act of dragging or on the effort involved in moving something.

See also: drage, hale, trække.