zerfleddern

Etymology
Late 18th century, of dialectal, especially East Central German, origin, from, the latter from , related with ,. The form with -dd- may be expressive or due to shortening before the syllables -el, -er (as in, , ). Perhaps also by association with unrelated.

Verb

 * 1) to damage something delicate, chiefly a book or piece of paper, by handling it uncarefully; to tatter

Usage notes

 * Some dictionaries still treat as the main variant. However, the dd-form has been predominant since circa 1950 and by the early 21st century it was about 30 times commoner.