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Here is a sentence from Donna Leon's Acqua Alta, Chapter 20:
Als sie Brunetti hinter sich herplatschen hörte, ging sie noch zwei Stufen höher und drehte sich zu ihm um.
The word "herplatsch(en)" is not to be found in Duden Online. Of course, neither is it to be found in Reverso, Pons or Leo. What is the best strategy for someone who is reading to learn German and who encounters such a situation, to understand the meaning?
In this case Google Translate gives the translation "splash around", which I suppose could be derived from the components, but Google uses it's own database of translations. The larger question though is what strategy to use if the usual references come up dry. First, add dict.cc and DWDS (as mentioned in the comments) to your list of go to references. DWDS has both a dictionary and a usage database, which are both useful depending on the situation. (The first dictionary I go to is Wiktionary, which doesn't cover some of the more unusual words, but it's easy to read and covers most of what you might find out there in the wild.) Also try Google Translate and DeepL; we all know their AI isn't perfect but it can give you a starting point. For technical or specialized words try the German Wikipedia, the trick I often use is to find the article there, then look on the left side of the page for versions of the article in other languages and click on English. You might also try doing a regular Google search on the word. I tried this in this case and it turned up a few old dictionaries, example link. Then of course don't underestimate the power of context. If all that fails then do a search here and ask if nothing relevant comes up. With the internet there are many resources available that didn't exist in the past, so you don't have to just rely on dictionaries nowadays.
The word herplatschen consists root of the platschen and the prefix her-. Platschen can be found in Duden.
I think you should learn about prefixes. Or at least keep a list of them. When you have a word you can't find, check if it has a prefix and search for the root.
Search for similar words: in your case Duden provides herlaufen and gives the meaning approaching to the speaker (as the prefix her- suggests).
platschen on its own is any process giving a similar sound as clapping (cf. German klatschen or as the word sounds when spoken, since it is onomatopoetic) (again see Duden).
So herplatschen combines movement to speaker as well as significant sound generation.
While I understand the reluctance to use this deduced meaning, a native speaker is in no better position. If you argue with some conviction, you can't be disproved easily due to lack of material.
The final resolution, to get hold of an English edition of the same book and look up how it is phrased there, will only be considered in a desperate situation.
