sprokkelen

From Middle Dutch sprockelen, a derivation from Middle Dutch sproc (“twig, faggot”) (whence sporkehout (“alder buckthorn”) and sprok (“brittle, fragile”)), with the frequentative verbal suffix -elen. Alternatively analyzable as sprokkel +‎ -en, but Middle Dutch sprockel is attested more sparsely and later than sproc and sprockelen, so it may actually be a back-formation from this verb.^[1]

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• Rhymes: -ɔkələn

sprokkelen

1. (transitive or intransitive) to glean. To harvest what has been left
2. (archaic, transitive or intransitive) to gather brushwood
3. (transitive or intransitive) to gather small stuff without paying for it

   Ik heb wat sigaretten gesprokkeld bij mijn vrienden — I have gathered some cigarettes from my friends.

4. (intransitive) to cheat (in competitions)

In the sense of "gathering brushwood", sprokkelen is no longer used absolutely (intransitively), but rather pleonastically, as in hout sprokkelen.