French–English dictionary

se dissimuler

To remain unobserved.

se dissoudre

(ergative) To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat.

se donner la peine

To do something which is of negligible inconvenience.

se donner rendez-vous

(intransitive) To meet at an agreed time and place.

se faire

(ambitransitive, ergative, idiomatic) To reach a state of functioning more smoothly through use or wear; to cause (something, or someone, new) to undergo this change.

se faire aimer

(reflexive) To bring oneself into favour with someone by flattering or trying to please them; to insinuate oneself; to worm one's way in.

se faire du mauvais sang

(intransitive, informal) To worry.

se faire la malle

(transitive, intransitive, slang) To leave.

se faire pistonner

(transitive) To obtain, arrange, or achieve by deceitful methods, by trickery.

se faire porter pâle

(ambitransitive) To feign illness, injury, or incapacitation in order to avoid work, obligation, or perilous risk.

se faire tout petit

(countable) A gesture or posture of cringing (recoiling or shrinking).

se faire un bleu

(intransitive) Of fruit or vegetables, to gain bruises through being handled roughly.

se faufiler

(ambitransitive, also, figuratively) In the intransitive sense often followed by up: to (cause something to) advance in a coy, furtive, or unobtrusive manner.

se ficher de

(obsolete, transitive) To ridicule, or mock; to make sport of.

se figer

(ambitransitive) (of machines and software) To come or bring to a sudden halt, stop working (functioning).

se finir

(copulative) To come to a final place, condition, or situation, sometimes unplanned or unexpected; to turn out.

se fissurer

(intransitive) To form cracks.

se flétrir

(intransitive) To collapse inward; to crumble.

se focaliser

(intransitive, followed by on or upon) To concentrate one's attention on something; to have as one's central point of interest, concern, etc.

se fondre

(of separate elements) To join into a single mass or whole.

se former

(transitive) To constitute, to compose, to make up.

se foutre de

(obsolete, transitive) To ridicule, or mock; to make sport of.

se froisser

(intransitive) To become wrinkled.

se gausser

(intransitive) To jeer; to laugh with contempt and derision.

se gonfler

(intransitive) To enlarge by filling with air (or a gas).

se gorger

(intransitive, reflexive) To stuff the gorge or gullet with food; to eat greedily and in large quantities. [with on]

se gripper

(intransitive, of an activity) To come to a standstill, or cease to be productive or make progress, due to an obstacle.

se grouiller

Used to urge someone to do something quickly.

se hâter

(intransitive, poetic) To hasten; to go quickly, to hurry.

se jeter dans la mêlée

(intransitive) To intervene in a dispute, or in a conversation.

se jouer de

(transitive) To intoxicate; to stupefy with drink.

se la péter

(obsolete, ambitransitive) To (cause to) swell or hang down like a full bag.

se lamenter

(intransitive) To express grief; to weep or wail; to mourn.

se lancer

(intransitive) to make one's initial formal appearance

se laver

(intransitive) To clean oneself with water.

se lever

(intransitive) To come up from one's bed or place of repose; to get up.

se libérer

(intransitive) To become free from obstruction or obscurement; to become transparent.

se lier d'amitié

(transitive, obsolete) To act as a friend to, to befriend; to be friendly to, to help.

se lire

(ergative) To substitute a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one; used to introduce an emendation of a text.

se lover

(transitive, intransitive) To lie close to another person or thing, hugging or being cosy.

se magner

(intransitive, slang) To hurry.

se méfier

To put no trust in; to have no confidence in.

se mêler à

(intransitive) To intervene in a dispute, or in a conversation.

se mésallier

(obsolete) To match unequally; to degrade or dishonor.

se mettre à califourchon

(transitive) To sit or stand with a leg on each side of something; to sit astride.

se mettre à genoux

(reflexive) To move on the knees; to use the knees to move.

se mettre à table

(intransitive, slang) To confess under interrogation.

se mettre d'accord

(intransitive) To be in agreement (with); to be of an accord. [from 16th c.]

se mettre en colère

(intransitive) To become angry.

se mettre en ligne

(intransitive) To put oneself or itself at the end of a waiting line.

se mettre martel en tête

To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.

se moquer

(intransitive) To jeer; to laugh with contempt and derision.

se moquer de

(transitive, archaic) To scorn.

se morfondre

(intransitive) (typically with over, on or about) To dwell upon moodily and at length, mainly alone.

se mouiller

(idiomatic) To take a risk, putting oneself in a vulnerable position.

se nanifier

(transitive) To make appear (much) smaller, puny, tiny; to be much larger than.

se nicher

To settle oneself comfortably and snugly.

se noyer

(intransitive) To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed.

se passer

(intransitive) To come to pass; to develop; to occur; to take place; to happen; to exist.

se passer de

(mostly, transitive) To manage despite the lack of.

se pavaner

(intransitive) To strut about proudly or haughtily.

se peloter

(transitive, intransitive, informal) To stroke or fondle (another person) amorously.

se pelotonner

(intransitive) to shape one's body into a somewhat ball-like shape, with one's legs tucked into the abdomen, especially for cosiness or for protection.

se pencher

(intransitive) To bend one's upper body forward and down while standing or kneeling.

se percher

(intransitive) To rest on a perch (especially, of a bird); to roost.

se permettre

(transitive, slang) To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.

se peupler

(intransitive) To become populous or populated.

se placer

(ergative) To earn a given spot in a competition; to rank at a certain position ((often followed by an ordinal)).

se plaindre

(British, Ireland, dialect) To grumble, complain.

se planter

(computing, slang, intransitive, by extension) Of a system: to fail.

se plier à

(transitive) To live one's life according to (religion, teachings, etc).

se plonger

To research a particular subject.

se porter volontaire

(intransitive) To enlist oneself as a volunteer.

se poudrer

(intransitive) To use powder on the hair or skin.

se pouvoir

(modal auxiliary verb, defective) Expressing a present possibility; possibly. [from 13th c.]

se précipiter

(intransitive) To press together or collect in numbers.

se prendre les pieds

(intransitive) To fall over or stumble over an object as a result of striking it with one's foot

se presser

To press against.

se produire

(transitive, archaic) To happen to; to befall.

se promener

(intransitive) To move on the feet by alternately setting each foot (or pair or group of feet, in the case of animals with four or more feet) forward, with at least one foot on the ground at all times. Compare run.

se propager

(biology, intransitive) To produce young; to be produced or multiplied by generation, or by new shoots or plants.

se prosterner

(historical) To kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground.

se pulvériser

(transitive) To reduce to fine particles; to pound, grind, or rub into a powder.

se quereller

(intransitive) To have an argument, a quarrel.

se rabougrir

(intransitive) To lose strength and become weak; to be in a state of weakness or sickness. [from 14th c.]

se raccoquiller

(intransitive) To curl one's legs up to the chest and keep one's arms close to the torso; to crouch; to assume a position similar to that of an embryo in the womb.

se raidir

(intransitive) To become stiff.

se ramasser

(ambitransitive) To fail dismally.

se rappeler

(transitive, idiomatic) To hold (something) in the memory; to remember; also, to be mindful of or pay attention to (something); to consider; to note.

se rebeller

To rebel or revolt; to take part in an uprising.

se recroqueviller

(intransitive) To bend down; to stoop low; to stand close to the ground with legs bent, like an animal when waiting for prey, or someone in fear.

se redresser

(transitive) To do justice to; to relieve from wrong; to restore rights to; to assert or regain the rights of.

se réduire

(intransitive) To become smaller; to contract.

se réduire en poudre

(transitive) To reduce to fine particles; to pound, grind, or rub into a powder.

se refléter

(intransitive) To be mirrored.

se refroidir

(figuratively) To lose or cause to lose warmth of feeling; to shut out; to ostracize.

se rejoindre

To converge and finally touch or intersect.

se réjouir

(reflexive) To enjoy or entertain oneself.

se relaxer

(transitive) To lower the temperature of something; to cool.

se remémorer

To think of (past events) in retrospect.

se remplir

To add contents to (a container, cavity, or the like) so that it is full.

se rencontrer

To gather for a formal or social discussion; to hold a meeting.

se rendre

(figurative) To surrender.

se rendre bien compte de

(transitive) To be fully conscious of; understand; be aware of; detect.

se renverser

(intransitive, nautical, also, _, figuratively) Of a vessel: to roll so far on its side that it cannot recover; to capsize or turn turtle.

se repentir

(intransitive) To feel pain, sorrow, or regret for what one has done or omitted to do; the cause for repenting may be indicated with "of".

se reposer

(intransitive, slang) To relax; to lie back; to take things easy.

se repoudrer

(intransitive) To use powder on the hair or skin.

se reproduire

To produce offspring sexually; to bear young.

se resserrer

(intransitive) To become smaller; to contract.

se retenir

(intransitive) To control oneself when provoked.

se retirer

(intransitive, reflexive, literally, figuratively) To withdraw oneself; to retire. [First attested in the mid 17th century.]

se retourner contre

(idiomatic, transitive) To fail in a manner that brings down further misfortune.

se rétracter

(figuratively) To regret or retract what one has said.

se retrouver

(copulative) To come to a final place, condition, or situation, sometimes unplanned or unexpected; to turn out.

se réunir

(intransitive) To assemble or gather together in one place, to gather up; to congregate.

se réveiller

(transitive) (often followed by up) To make somebody stop sleeping; to rouse from sleep.

se révéler

(copulative, fossil word) To become, to turn out to be.

se révolter

To rebel or revolt; to take part in an uprising.

se rider

(intransitive) To become wrinkled.

se ruer

(intransitive) To run quickly or for a short distance.

se salir

(intransitive) To become soiled.

se sauver

To run with quick light steps, to scamper.

se sentir

(intransitive, copulative) To experience an emotion or other mental state.

se serrer la main

(intransitive, usually as "shake on") To shake hands.

se servir de

To make useful; to find a practical use for.

se souder

(intransitive) To become closely and firmly joined; become compacted.

se souvenir

To recall from one's memory; to have an image in one's memory.

se spasmer

(intransitive) To spasm or shake violently.

se taire

(idiomatic) To keep quiet; to keep a secret; to not tell.

se taler

(intransitive) Of fruit or vegetables, to gain bruises through being handled roughly.

se taper

(obsolete, transitive) To cause (something) to rise or ascend; to drive up; to raise; to elevate; to lift up.

se taper la main sur le front

To bring the palm of one’s hand to one’s face as an expression of mixed humor and disbelief, disgust or shame; for example, when one is caught off-guard with a particularly bad pun.

se taper la tête avec la main

To bring the palm of one’s hand to one’s face as an expression of mixed humor and disbelief, disgust or shame; for example, when one is caught off-guard with a particularly bad pun.

se tapir

(intransitive) To bend down; to stoop low; to stand close to the ground with legs bent, like an animal when waiting for prey, or someone in fear.

se tenir

(reflexive) To behave (in a given manner). [from 17th c.]

se tenir debout

(intransitive, copulative) To support oneself on the feet in an erect position.

se terminer

(copulative) To come to a final place, condition, or situation, sometimes unplanned or unexpected; to turn out.

se terminer par

(transitive) To finalize, bring to a conclusion, form the climax of.

se tirer

(intransitive, idiomatic, slang) To leave (or not attend at all) a place or a situation, especially quickly or when the situation has become undesirable; to abandon (something).

se tortiller

(intransitive) To twist one's body with snakelike motions.

se tracasser

(ambitransitive) To be chafed or irritated; to be angry or vexed; to utter peevish expressions through irritation or worry.

se transformer

(intransitive) To become something different.

se travailler

(intransitive) To behave in a certain way when handled

se trémousser

(transitive) To move up and down on one's knee or in one's arms, in affectionate play, usually said of a child.

se tromper

To have an incorrect belief, to be mistaken about one's judgment or statement concerning something. (This entry is a translation hub.)

se vanter

(transitive) (used with "about" or "of") To speak of with pride, vanity, or exultation, with a view to self-commendation; to extol.

se vautrer

(figurative) To immerse oneself in, to occupy oneself with, metaphorically.

se venger de

(intransitive) To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront.

se verrouiller

(intransitive) To become fastened in place.