sich die Zeit vertreiben

to while away the time

Türkçe: vakit geçirmek

Noun

Zeit f.

Verb

vertreiben

Topic

Gesellschaft und Leben

In a sentence

Der Rentner vertreibt sich die Zeit mit Schachspielen im Park.

How it is used

Means 'to while away the time'—core is passing time pleasantly. Neutral to colloquial. Use when waiting for a train by reading or playing games. Implies distraction from boredom, not productive use.

Other verbs that go with Zeit

This is the choice the collocation turns on.

• Zeit kostento take time
• die Zeit totschlagento kill 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

Other collocations built on vertreiben

• den Kummer vertreibento dispel sadness or worry, often through distraction