pucker
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
puckers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
puckered,
past participle, past
-
puckering
present participle
noun
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puckers
plural
-
a wrinkle; an irregular fold.
-
a puckered part, as of cloth tightly or crookedly sewn.
-
Archaic. a state of agitation or perturbation.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
puckersimple
-
puckerssimple
-
have puckeredperfect
-
has puckeredperfect
-
am puckeringprogressive
-
are puckeringprogressive
-
is puckeringprogressive
-
have been puckeringperfect progressive
-
has been puckeringperfect progressive
Past
-
puckeredsimple
-
had puckeredperfect
-
was puckeringprogressive
-
were puckeringprogressive
-
had been puckeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pucker
1590–1600; apparently a frequentative form connected with poke 2; see -er 6 and for the meaning cf. purse
Explanation
Pucker is a verb for what happens when something smooth or flat gets folded up into little wrinkles, like how you pucker your lips when you go to kiss someone — you, wild flirt, you! When you use a sewing machine, sometimes the cloth puckers in wrinkly clumps that make it hard to sew in a straight line. Most of the time, it’s lips that do the puckering, maybe because you want a kiss, but also sucking on a lemon can make your lips pucker. If someone tells you to “pucker up,” they might want to kiss you, or they might throw a sour pickle at your head. Either way, get ready.
Vocabulary lists containing pucker
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He avoids kissing for 24 hours before a performance and 48 hours before a competition because it makes it difficult to sustain a pucker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
These compounds, which look like rings at the molecular level, interact with proteins in your saliva to produce a dry, astringent sensation that makes your mouth pucker.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024
Mattel should have considered traditional pucker toe moccasins, instead of black shoes, and included symbols on the basket that Cherokees use to tell a story, she said.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
In other words, this complex dance between art, anatomy, and archaeology can bring the past almost to life—one eyelash, pucker, and pore at a time.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 23, 2023
The greater the local mass, the more intense the local gravity, and the more severe the pucker, distortion or warp of space.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The building alternately puckers and swells, like the indolent flexing of a muscle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Fattoush is one of the bright, simple joys of summer: Tomatoes spill sunshine, pita shards and cucumbers take turns showing off their snap, sumac puckers, and mint and parsley cool, often, in a single bite.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2022
The crunchy onion gives a little sweetness while the pickle puckers in the most pleasing way to cut through all that heat.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
He puckers his lips and pantomimes shoveling coal.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 15, 2020
Zohra puckers her clown lips and blows me a kiss.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
But then, it’s hard not to smile at the playfully elegant Bosc pears, puckered mandarins and green-and-purple asparagus taper candles which range in price from $12 to $40.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
In fact a laundry list of laundry terms could apply: folded, pressed, softened, agitated, pleated, creased, puckered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Hashtags such as #sunburntanlines, #sunpoisoning and #sunstroke are popping up alongside videos of young men and women - some in tears - revealing deep red, almost purple, often puckered skin.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025
Unscrewing the cap on a tube of mauve goo and giving it a generous swipe across puckered lips.
From New York Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
He was fat and short and had a puckered and expressionless face like a very serious gnome.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
Astringency is the dry, puckering, rough, or sandpapery feeling people notice when eating foods rich in certain plant compounds called polyphenols.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 7, 2026
Nobel’s Super Lemon Sour Candy will surely have your mouth watering and puckering.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2025
In fact, she’s so dedicated to that social critique that she can’t accept any contradictory evidence, even when gorgeous male celebrity lips are puckering up right in front of her.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 28, 2023
Beyond the gross-out close-ups of puckering organs, what is most striking here is a rare cinematic quality nowadays: perversity.
From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2022
Lena smooshed his cheeks with both hands, puckering his mouth.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
