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suck (sŭk)
Share:
v. sucked, suck·ing, sucks
v.tr.
1.
a. To draw (liquid) into the mouth by movements of the tongue and lips that create suction.
b. To draw a liquid into the mouth through or from: a baby sucking a bottle.
c. To hold, moisten, or maneuver (a sweet, for example) in the mouth, especially in creating suction.
2.
a. To draw in by establishing a partial vacuum: a cleaning device that sucks up dirt; sucked air into his lungs.
b. To draw in a current in a fluid: debris that got sucked into the drain.
c. To cause to be involved or engaged in something: teenagers who are sucked into a life of crime.
3. Vulgar Slang To perform fellatio on.
v.intr.
1. To move the tongue and lips to create suction: sucked on a straw.
2. To draw something in by suction: The pump started to suck.
3. To draw nourishment from a breast or teat; suckle.
4. To make a sound caused by suction.
5. Slang
a. To be highly unpleasant or disagreeable: This job sucks.
b. To be of poor or inferior quality: The acting in that movie sucked.
c. To be inept: I suck at math.
n.
1. The act or sound of sucking: gave the straw a suck.
2. Suction.
Phrasal Verbs:
suck in
To take advantage of; cheat; swindle: We really got sucked in by that offer.
suck up Slang
To behave obsequiously; fawn: sucking up to their rich relations.
Idiom:
suck it up
Slang To accept and deal with something one finds unpleasant.

[Middle English suken, from Old English sūcan; see seuə-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.