Verb

aus|beuten

to exploit, to take advantage of, to mine, to harvest

Die Firma beutet die Arbeiter aus.

The company exploits the workers.

Das Land beutet seine Rohstoffe aus.

The country exploits its raw materials.

((j-n/et4)) ((ausbeuten)) to exploit sb./sth. The country exploits its natural resources.

Synonyms: ausnutzen (to take advantage of), missbrauchen (to abuse); Antonyms: fördern (to promote), schützen (to protect)

Derived from 'aus-' (out, completely) and 'Beute' (booty, loot). It conveys the sense of completely extracting the 'loot' from a source, leading to the meaning 'to exploit'.

Think of taking the 'booty' ('Beute') completely 'out' ('aus') of a situation or person. This image of exhaustive taking is the core of 'ausbeuten'.

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