Verb

nieder|hauen

Translation

to knock down, to strike down, to cut down, to jot down

Der Boxer haute seinen Gegner nieder.

The boxer knocked his opponent down.

Er hat den ganzen Baum niedergehauen.

He cut down the whole tree.

Ich muss schnell ein paar Notizen niederhauen.

I have to quickly jot down a few notes.

((sb./sth.)) to knock sb./sth. down The boxer knocked his opponent down.

((sth.)) to jot sth. down I have to quickly jot down a few notes.

Synonyms: to fell, to strike down, to demolish; Antonyms: to erect, to build up

Composed of the prefix 'nieder' (down) and the verb 'hauen' (to hit, hew). It literally means 'to hit down' or 'to hew down'.

Visualize 'hewing' (hauen) something until it falls 'down' (nieder). This connects the two parts of the word to its meaning.