käft

See also: kæft

Swedish
flodhäst som spärrar upp käften

Etymology

From Old Swedish kiæpter, from Old Norse kjaptr. Cognate with Danish kæft, Norwegian kjeft, Icelandic kjaftur, and Faroese kjaftur.

Noun

käft c

  1. a jaw or (open) mouth of an animal (especially one with a powerful bite)
    Synonym: (jaw of a human or animal) käke
    hajens käftar
    the jaws of the shark
    Hunden hade ett ben i käften
    The dog had a bone in its mouth
  2. (colloquial, mildly offensive) a mouth of a human
    Synonym: mun (“mouth”)
    slå någon på käften
    punch someone in the face (or "mouth," literally – aggressive-sounding)
    slänga käft
    talk (literally "throw jaw")
    vara slängd i käften
    be quick to answer, have the gift of gab (literally "be thrown in the jaw")
    att låta käften gå
    to keep talking
  3. (colloquial, in the expression "inte en käft") a person
    Synonyms: kotte, jävel
    Jag kom till kontoret kl. 8 och det var inte en käft där
    I came to the office at 8 o'clock and not a soul was there

Usage notes

(sense 2) conjures the image of animal jaws, giving it a colloquial and mildly offensive (or jocular) feeling. This plays into making håll käften very rude, as it's telling someone to keep their animalistic jaws shut.

Declension
Declension of käft 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative käft käften käftar käftarna
Genitive käfts käftens käftars käftarnas

Derived terms

See also

Interjection

käft

  1. shut up (short for håll käften)
    Synonym: käften

Usage notes

Can take on a jocular tone, which is rare for the harsher håll käften.

References
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