Spits

1. striker [noun] [de spits, de spitsen] [‘spits‘] Iconspeaker_klein

"Spits" has several meanings in Dutch. During the 2008 European Football Championship, the meaning most often heard is "striker".

Examples:Spits_1
– "Bondscoach Marco van Basten heeft Ruud van Nistelrooy geselecteerd als spits."
("National coach Marco van Basten has selected Ruud van Nistelrooy as striker".)

– "Een paar maanden geleden werd de Real-spits geopereerd aan zijn enkel."
("A few months ago, the Real striker was operated on his ankle.")

– "Wie speelt er bij Nederland in de spits?"
("Who in the Dutch team plays forward?")

2. peak, peak/rush hour [noun] [de spits, de spitsen] [‘spits‘] Iconspeaker_klein

Another meaning of "spits" that you can hear every hour on the radio news, is "peak/rush hour". One of the free daily newspapers is also named "Spits" for this reason (see picture). Related to this meaning is the translation "peak (of a mountain or tower)".

Examples:Spits_2_2
– <Nieuwslezer> "We hebben een drukke ochtendspits zoals gebruikelijk op maandag: 160 kilometer file."
(<Newsreader> "We have a busy morning rush hour as usual on Monday: 160 kilometres traffic jam.")

– "Er komen steeds meer gratis dagbladen zoals ‘Metro’, ‘Spits’, ‘Pers’ en ‘Dag’."
("The number of free daily newspapers such as ‘Metro’, ‘Spits’, ‘Pers’ and ‘Dag’ is growing." Note that "metro" means "metro" or "subway"; "pers" means "press" and "dag" means "day".)

– "De spits van de toren was ernstig beschadigd door de blikseminslag."
("The spire of the tower was badly damaged by the thunderbolt.")

Expressions:
– "De spits afbijten": to go first, be the first (to).

Example:
"Joris beet de spits af met zijn presentatie over HRM."
("Joris was the first to give a presentation on HRM ".)

– "Iets op de spits drijven": make an issue of something.

Example:
– "Ze overdrijft; het was toch nergens voor nodig om het zo op de spits te drijven!"
("
She’s overexaggerating; it wasn’t necessary to make such an issue of it, was it!")

3. sharp, pointy [adjective/adverb] [‘spits‘] Iconspeaker_klein

A third meaning of "spits" is pointy, sharp or pointed.

Examples: Spits_3
– "Zij heeft een spits gezicht met scherpe trekken."
("She has a pointed face with sharp features".)

– "De klompen hebben een spitse neus."
("The wooden shoes have a sharp point." Lit.: ".. have a sharp nose.")

– "De meeste daken lopen spits toe."
("Most roofs end in a point.")