suck
Americanverb (used with object)
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sucks,
present (3rd person singular)
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sucked,
past participle, past
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sucking
present participle
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to draw into the mouth by producing a partial vacuum by action of the lips and tongue.
to suck lemonade through a straw.
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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.
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to apply the lips or mouth to and draw upon by producing a partial vacuum, especially for extracting fluid contents.
to suck an orange.
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to put into the mouth and draw upon.
to suck one's thumb.
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to take into the mouth and dissolve by the action of the tongue, saliva, etc..
to suck a piece of candy.
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to render or bring to a specified condition by or as if by sucking.
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Slang: Vulgar. to perform fellatio on (sometimes followed byoff ).
verb (used without object)
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sucks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sucked,
past participle, past
-
sucking
present participle
-
to draw something in by producing a partial vacuum in the mouth, especially to draw milk from the breast.
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to draw or be drawn by or as if by suction.
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(of a pump) to draw air instead of water, as when the water is low or a valve is defective.
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Slang. to be repellent or unpleasant.
Poverty sucks.
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Slang. to be inferior, as in quality or execution; be poor.
Everyone says the show sucks. She sucks at tennis.
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Slang. to behave in a fawning manner (usually followed byaround ).
noun
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an act or instance of sucking.
-
a sucking force.
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the sound produced by sucking.
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that which is sucked; nourishment drawn from the breast.
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a small drink; sip.
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a whirlpool.
verb phrase
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suck in to deceive; cheat; defraud.
The confidence man sucked us all in.
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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
verb
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to draw (a liquid or other substance) into the mouth by creating a partial vacuum in the mouth
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to draw in (fluid, etc) by or as if by a similar action
plants suck moisture from the soil
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to drink milk from (a mother's breast); suckle
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(tr) to extract fluid content from (a solid food)
to suck a lemon
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(tr) to take into the mouth and moisten, dissolve, or roll around with the tongue
to suck one's thumb
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(tr; often foll by down, in, etc) to draw by using irresistible force
the whirlpool sucked him down
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(intr) (of a pump) to draw in air because of a low supply level or leaking valves, pipes, etc
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(tr) to assimilate or acquire (knowledge, comfort, etc)
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slang (intr) to be contemptible or disgusting
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informal doing very well; successful
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informal to try something to find out what it is, what it is like, or how it works
noun
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the act or an instance of sucking
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something that is sucked, esp milk from the mother's breast
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to give (a baby or young animal) milk from the breast or udder
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an attracting or sucking force
the suck of the whirlpool was very strong
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a sound caused by sucking
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sucksimple
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suckssimple
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have suckedperfect
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has suckedperfect
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am suckingprogressive
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are suckingprogressive
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is suckingprogressive
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have been suckingperfect progressive
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has been suckingperfect progressive
Past
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suckedsimple
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had suckedperfect
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was suckingprogressive
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were suckingprogressive
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had been suckingperfect progressive
Future
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
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
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:
McLoughlin, who fondly remembers PlayStation cases on a bedroom shelf and getting new games for Christmas, says "it would suck to see physical games disappear completely".
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
“So many people feel that aging is some grim reality, we have to just suck it up,” he said, “but you can have an enormous impact on these things.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 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
A proposed Roomba-like device to suck ticks out of the grass probably does not.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
I suck in my cheeks at the sight.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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 really hard, but I know if you are going through something you can get through it too. It sucks."
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
“The earnings pattern sucks for a typical developer,” said Ted Brandt, chief executive of Marathon Capital, a clean-energy-focused investment bank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
It sucks everything around it out of time and space and into—well, I don’t know, Your Maj, because I was never frightfully good at science, but, you know, the Great Nothing or some such.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
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
We have had wildfires this year because things have been so dry for so long, the hot air has just sucked the moisture out of the landscape.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
I reached for one, tore its outer pulp off with my teeth, and sucked the oily juice.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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
Marx himself used the analogy: “Capital is dead labour that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 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
Some species can have as many as 12 legs, along with a sucking proboscis used for feeding.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026
To say that I’m grumpy after sucking at the Invisible Bridge would be an understatement.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
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