Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To draw (liquid) into the mouth by movements of the tongue and lips that create suction.
  • intransitive verb To draw a liquid into the mouth through or from.
  • intransitive verb To hold, moisten, or maneuver (a sweet, for example) in the mouth, especially in creating suction.
  • intransitive verb To draw in by establishing a partial vacuum.
  • intransitive verb To draw in a current in a fluid.
  • intransitive verb To caused to be involved or engaged in something.
  • intransitive verb Vulgar Slang To perform fellatio on.
  • intransitive verb To move the tongue and lips to create suction.
  • intransitive verb To draw something in by suction.
  • intransitive verb To draw nourishment from a breast or teat; suckle.
  • intransitive verb To make a sound caused by suction.
  • intransitive verb To be highly unpleasant or disagreeable.
  • intransitive verb To be of poor or inferior quality.
  • intransitive verb To be inept.
  • noun The act or sound of sucking.
  • noun Suction.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Juice; succulence.
  • noun Suction by the mouth or in any way; the act of sucking; a sucking force.
  • noun Nourishment drawn from the breast.
  • noun A small draught.
  • noun Rum or liquor of some kind.
  • noun Same as sucket, 1.
  • To draw into the mouth by action of the lips and tongue which produces a partial vacuum.
  • To draw something from with the mouth; specifically, to draw milk from.
  • To draw in or imbibe by any process; inhale; absorb: usually with in, out, away, etc.: as, to suck in air; a sponge sucks in water.
  • To draw or drain.
  • To draw in, as a whirlpool; swallow up; in-gulf.
  • To draw in or obtain by fraudulent devices; soak.
  • To cheat; deceive; take in.
  • To draw fluid into the mouth; draw by producing a vacuum, as with a tube.
  • To draw milk from a teat: said of the young of a mammal.
  • To draw air when the water is low or the valve imperfect: said of a pump.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To draw, as a liquid, by the action of the mouth and tongue, which tends to produce a vacuum, and causes the liquid to rush in by atmospheric pressure; to draw, or apply force to, by exhausting the air.
  • transitive verb To draw liquid from by the action of the mouth; ; specifically, to draw milk from (the mother, the breast, etc.) with the mouth.
  • transitive verb To draw in, or imbibe, by any process resembles sucking; to inhale; to absorb.
  • transitive verb To draw or drain.
  • transitive verb To draw in, as a whirlpool; to swallow up.
  • transitive verb to draw into the mouth; to imbibe; to absorb.
  • transitive verb to draw out with the mouth; to empty by suction.
  • transitive verb to draw into the mouth; to draw up by suction or absorption.
  • intransitive verb To draw, or attempt to draw, something by suction, as with the mouth, or through a tube.
  • intransitive verb To draw milk from the breast or udder.
  • intransitive verb To draw in; to imbibe; to partake.
  • intransitive verb colloq. To be objectionable, of very poor quality, or offensive.
  • noun The act of drawing with the mouth.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English suken, from Old English sūcan; see seuə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English souken, suken, from Old English sūcan ("to suck"), from Proto-Germanic *sūkanan, *sūganan (“to suck, suckle”), from Proto-Indo-European *seug-, *sug-, *suk-. Cognate with Scots souke ("to suck"), obsolete Dutch zuiken ("to suck"). Akin also to Old English sūgan ("to suck"), West Frisian sûge, sûgje ("to suck"), Dutch zuigen ("to suck"), German saugen ("to suck"), Swedish suga ("to suck"), Icelandic sjúga ("to suck"), Latin sugō ("suck"), Welsh sugno ("suck"). Related to soak.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word suck.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I added this to skipvia's free association list (click here) but I think I might be playing wrong... The reason I added it is because I hate sports. "Suck" is the first thing I thought of when I read "baseball cards."

    February 5, 2008

  • the first thing that enters one's mind when the word is mentioned is usually oral sex.

    October 17, 2008

  • I usually think of the alternative to the theory of gravity.

    October 17, 2008

  • Lately it brings to mind 'the Nutsucker', a large machine used by hazelnut farmers to hoover up nuts from under the trees.

    "Boy, can this thing really suck nuts! It also picks up twigs and leaves which then have to be removed manually."

    - interview with hazelnut farm manager on ABC Radio National, 17 October 2008.

    October 17, 2008

  • I think of vacuum cleaners.

    October 17, 2008

  • Me too. My most common use of the word (other than the negative "that sucks") is when talking about my favourite brand of dustbuster, which not only has an amazing battery life but also "plenty of suck".

    October 17, 2008

  • I think of vacuum cleaners too, actually. I wonder if that's gender-related...?

    October 17, 2008

  • I used to call my brand-new (now not-so-new) vacuum cleaner the SuckMaster 3000. Boy, does it ever suck.

    October 17, 2008

  • How timely. I need to get a new vacuum, and very soon. Maybe I'll look for a SuckMaster 3000.

    This conversation reminds me of a certain cartoon... *goes to look for it*

    Edit: Here it is.

    October 17, 2008

  • I think of something/someone really bad, not good, sub-par, crappy, etc.

    October 17, 2008

  • C_b, that cartoonist has done a whole series of wordplays like that. *runs off to find more*

    October 17, 2008

  • Well, I think of oral sex.

    October 17, 2008

  • I usually think of oral sex (when I hear the word suck, that is). But sometimes I think of Ross Perot. Which is just disturbing.

    October 18, 2008

  • No argument here, Asa...

    October 18, 2008

  • Sometimes, after vacuums, I think of Lady Macbeth.

    Is that weird?

    October 18, 2008

  • Vampires and abortions.

    October 18, 2008

  • I am reminded of the comment heard of an ante-tooth baby - "He doesn't bite, but he's got a nasty suck".

    October 18, 2008

  • Not at all, c_b. Lady Macbeth is teh alsome. I can see why she'd stick in your mind.

    October 18, 2008

  • Interesting. The females associate suck with vacuum cleaners & the guys with oral sex.

    But then guys tend to associate most everything with sex including vacuum cleaners.

    October 19, 2008

  • "Remember: if the world did not suck, we would all fall off."

    --posted in a coworker's cubicle

    October 19, 2008

  • You're assuming you know everyone's gender here, trailingedge! :) Also... I won't ask where Lady Macbeth fits in. Maybe I'm androgynous.

    October 19, 2008

  • Good point chained_bear.

    October 19, 2008

  • Thank you, c_b, for pointing that out.

    October 20, 2008

  • "I was a baby when I learned to suck

    But you have raised it to an art form."

    —Barenaked Ladies, "Wind It Up"

    February 26, 2009