Learn Arabic › B2 › قَبَع
قَبَع
to hide, cower, crouch down (withdraw into hiding) /ˈqa.ba.ʕa/
verbB2#3655 most common
Also: to shut oneself in, to hole up, to duck, huddle down in fear
Example sentences
قَبَعَ القِطُّ فِي الصُّنْدُوقِ.
The cat hid in the box.
قَبَعْتُ فِي غُرْفَتِي طَوَالَ اليَوْمِ.
I stayed cooped up in my room all day.
قَبَعَ الرَّجُلُ فِي بَيْتِهِ خَوْفًا مِنَ العَاصِفَةِ.
The man shut himself in his house, afraid of the storm.
تَقْبَعُ الأَرْنَبَةُ فِي جُحْرِهَا كُلَّمَا شَعَرَتْ بِالخَطَرِ.
The rabbit crouches in its burrow whenever it senses danger.
بَعْدَ الهَزِيمَةِ، قَبَعَ الجُنُودُ فِي خَنَادِقِهِمْ يَنْتَظِرُونَ الأَوَامِرَ.
After the defeat, the soldiers hunkered down in their trenches, waiting for orders.
ظَلَّ يَقْبَعُ فِي عُزْلَتِهِ سَنَوَاتٍ طَوِيلَةً، رَافِضًا أَيَّ تَوَاصُلٍ مَعَ العَالَمِ الخَارِجِيِّ.
He remained withdrawn in his isolation for many long years, refusing any contact with the outside world.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَقْبَعُ | قَبَعْتُ | سَأَقْبَعُ |
| 2sg | تَقْبَعُ | قَبَعْتَ | سَتَقْبَعُ |
| 3sg | يَقْبَعُ | قَبَعَ | سَيَقْبَعُ |
| 1pl | نَقْبَعُ | قَبَعْنَا | سَنَقْبَعُ |
| 2pl | تَقْبَعُونَ | قَبَعْتُمْ | سَتَقْبَعُونَ |
| 3pl | يَقْبَعُونَ | قَبَعُوا | سَيَقْبَعُونَ |
Word family
قُبَّعَةhat, cap
انْقَبَعَto hide oneself, cower (reflexive)
قَابِعcrouching, holed up, hiding
قُبُوعthe act of hiding or crouching
Etymology
Qaba'a comes from the Semitic triliteral root q-b-ʕ, which carries the sense of shrinking back, covering up, or drawing inward. Classical Arabic dictionaries define it as crouching or hiding, often used for an animal pulling back into its den. Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so it has no Proto-Indo-European root or ancestry.
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