sabotieren

to sabotage

verb za-bo-TEE-ren Rare

Origin: from French saboter

Usage Note

sabotieren covers both the criminal act of deliberately damaging infrastructure or equipment and the figurative use of undermining a plan; legally Sabotage of critical infrastructure is a serious offence (§316b StGB).

Examples

"Unbekannte hatten die Signalanlage sabotiert."

Natural Translation

Unknown persons had sabotaged the signal system.

Literal Translation

Unknown had the signal-system sabotaged.

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