die Zeit totschlagen

to kill time

Türkçe: vakit öldürmek

Noun

Zeit f.

Verb

totschlagen

Topic

Gesellschaft und Leben

In a sentence

Der Rentner schlägt die Zeit mit Schach im Park tot.

How it is used

Means 'to kill time' by doing trivial activities while waiting. Colloquial register. Use when waiting for a delayed train or a friend who's late. Common mistake: learners use it in formal contexts where it sounds too casual.

Other verbs that go with Zeit

This is the choice the collocation turns on.

• sich die Zeit vertreibento while away the time
• Zeit kostento take time
• gut in der Zeit liegento be ahead of or on schedule
• (viel) Zeit in etwas steckento invest a lot of time in
• sich Zeit lassen / nehmento take one's time
• Zeit haben / findento have/find time
• Zeit benötigen / brauchento need time
• Zeit gewinnento gain time

All collocations with Zeit