suck

American  

[suhk] / sʌk /

verb (used with object)

• sucks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sucked,
  past participle,  past
• sucking
  present participle

1. to draw into the mouth by producing a partial vacuum by action of the lips and tongue.

   to suck lemonade through a straw.

2. to draw (water, moisture, air, etc.) by or as if by suction.

   Plants suck moisture from the earth. The pump sucked water from the basement.

3. to apply the lips or mouth to and draw upon by producing a partial vacuum, especially for extracting fluid contents.

   to suck an orange.

4. to put into the mouth and draw upon.

   to suck one's thumb.

5. to take into the mouth and dissolve by the action of the tongue, saliva, etc..

   to suck a piece of candy.

6. to render or bring to a specified condition by or as if by sucking.

7. Slang: Vulgar. to perform fellatio on (sometimes followed byoff ).

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verb (used without object)

• sucks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sucked,
  past participle,  past
• sucking
  present participle

1. to draw something in by producing a partial vacuum in the mouth, especially to draw milk from the breast.

2. to draw or be drawn by or as if by suction.

3. (of a pump) to draw air instead of water, as when the water is low or a valve is defective.

4. Slang. to be repellent or unpleasant.

   Poverty sucks.

5. Slang. to be inferior, as in quality or execution; be poor.

   Everyone says the show sucks. She sucks at tennis.

6. Slang. to behave in a fawning manner (usually followed byaround ).

noun

1. an act or instance of sucking.

2. a sucking force.

3. the sound produced by sucking.

4. that which is sucked; nourishment drawn from the breast.

5. a small drink; sip.

6. a whirlpool.

verb phrase

1. suck in to deceive; cheat; defraud.

   The confidence man sucked us all in.

2. suck up to be obsequious; toady.

   The workers are all sucking up to him because he's the one who decides who'll get the bonuses.

idioms

1. suck face, to engage in soul-kissing.

suck British  

/ sʌk /

verb

1. to draw (a liquid or other substance) into the mouth by creating a partial vacuum in the mouth

2. to draw in (fluid, etc) by or as if by a similar action

   plants suck moisture from the soil

3. to drink milk from (a mother's breast); suckle

4. (tr) to extract fluid content from (a solid food)

   to suck a lemon

5. (tr) to take into the mouth and moisten, dissolve, or roll around with the tongue

   to suck one's thumb

6. (tr; often foll by down, in, etc) to draw by using irresistible force

   the whirlpool sucked him down

7. (intr) (of a pump) to draw in air because of a low supply level or leaking valves, pipes, etc

8. (tr) to assimilate or acquire (knowledge, comfort, etc)

9. slang (intr) to be contemptible or disgusting

10. informal doing very well; successful

11. informal to try something to find out what it is, what it is like, or how it works

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noun

1. the act or an instance of sucking

2. something that is sucked, esp milk from the mother's breast

3. to give (a baby or young animal) milk from the breast or udder

4. an attracting or sucking force

   the suck of the whirlpool was very strong

5. a sound caused by sucking

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• outsuck
  verb (used with object)
• suckless
  adjective
• unsucked
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• sucking
  present
• sucked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• suck
  simple
• sucks
  simple
• have sucked
  perfect
• has sucked
  perfect
• am sucking
  progressive
• are sucking
  progressive
• is sucking
  progressive
• have been sucking
  perfect progressive
• has been sucking
  perfect progressive

Past

• sucked
  simple
• had sucked
  perfect
• was sucking
  progressive
• were sucking
  progressive
• had been sucking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will suck
  simple
• will have sucked
  perfect
• will be sucking
  progressive
• will have been sucking
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of suck

First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English souken, Old English sūcan, cognate with Latin sūgere; (noun) Middle English souke “act of suckling,” derivative of the noun; akin to soak

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Explanation

To suck is to draw something by force. Vacuum cleaners suck dirt from the floor and milkshake drinkers suck this liquid, tasty liquid through a straw. Drinking something by pulling it into your mouth is to suck it. You can also suck on something, like a peppermint or a thumb, by holding it in your mouth. Objects can suck too — a fan sucks warm air out the window. You can also suck someone into your plans, meaning you force them to participate. The word suck comes from the Proto-Indo-European sug, from the sound your mouth makes when you suck on something.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

suck sucks sucked sucking

You've got to suck it up and get on with it.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

A huge reconstruction job would demand intense attention and suck up tens of billions of dollars in investment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

As mega IPOs suck up capital, smaller AI-related public listings are being delayed or shelved.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

I knew who they were; I’d heard the single on WNYU, maybe for once the opening band wouldn’t suck.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

I lick my hands, I lick my arms, I bunch my hair, pull it around and suck on it.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Clement Delangue, CEO of AI platform Hugging Face, which is owned by Nvidia, called it "a really sad day," saying: "This whole thing sucks, and I wish none of it had happened."

From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2026

He was something exciting and fresh when he pantsed the pop culture landscape in the late 1990s, but joking about how much everything sucks is a young man’s game.

From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026

“It kind of sucks to leave a student who’s obviously still confused with stuff, but you’ve hit your five-minute limit and there’s a hundred other students” waiting.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

It’s like everything sucks, and we know it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

The boy sucks his teeth, but his friend grabs his arm, holding him back.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

But City Hall sucked out her creativity, her optimism, her drive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

Because of the tough economic times and because of the new products like buy-now-pay-later deals that are just sweeping the market, young people are being sucked into more credit-card debt than ever before.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026

Rates have “just gone up so quick, it’s really just kind of sucked the air it seems out of the market,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Everyone has sucked it up to go to the wedding of a couple they disapprove of, or a family dinner that will inevitably turn into an argument.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

She ran her fingers along the bag’s inside, and Ivan sucked in a breath.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

He calls Tesco's half-price deal "insane", adding that it's "sucking them into buying something now that isn't going to do the job".

From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026

“Every time I walk into one, I feel like a vampire. I’m sucking the energy from the walls, and one way or the other, it ends up in one of my films.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2026

With each passing month, it’s becoming increasingly clear that artificial intelligence is taking over the internet, sucking up online searches and smashing the businesses of household-name companies.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

The process, guided by the app, is relatively straightforward: fill the test with saliva by sucking on it for 60 seconds, wait 20 minutes, scan the test, get results.

From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026

He pushed through the heavy front door of the school, sucking in the cold, fresh air.

From "I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964" by Lauren Tarshis

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