Meanings
1. to stroke (Usually in context of running your fingers through your hair. Not very common otherwise)
2. to paint (For bigger surfaces and apartments. NOT for art, that would be "malen")
3. to cancel (You cross something off the figurative calendar)
4. to spread (in context of spreadable food. ALWAYS combined with a specification as to where you're spreading something.)
5. to stroll, to walk (VERY rare, and only used in fixed phrasings (um die Häuser streichen). I think the original idea is from staying close to the walls, like a cat. Spoken past is built with "sein" here.)
Examples
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Discussion
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A fun look at the family of "streichen" and what painting your wall has to do with emphasis, petting your cat and pranks.
Vocab:
streichen, durchstreichen, der Strich, der Aufstrich, der Abstrich, streicheln, der Streich
Word Family
Root: *streig-
Questions and Comments
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according to Duden.de, streichen’s past tense can be made by both ist and hat. When it means “to paint” or “to cut/delete” the perfekt has to be made by adding a conjugated form of “haben” to the past participle.
Good point.
There’s a meaning of “streichen” as “to stroll, to roam” and THAT builds its spoken past with “sein”. All the others go with “haben”.
I forgot to include that in my list, but I added it now.