sucker

American  

[suhk-er] / ˈsʌk ər /

noun

• suckers
  plural

1. a person or thing that sucks.

2. Informal. a person easily cheated, deceived, or imposed upon.

3. an infant or a young animal that is suckled, especially a suckling pig.

4. a part or organ of an animal adapted for sucking nourishment, or for adhering to an object as by suction.

5. any of several freshwater, mostly North American food fishes of the family Catostomidae, having thick lips: some are now rare.

6. Informal. a lollipop.

7. the piston of a pump that works by suction, or the valve of such a piston.

8. a pipe or tube through which something is drawn or sucked.

9. Botany. a shoot rising from a subterranean stem or root.

10. Informal. a person attracted to something as indicated.

    He's a sucker for new clothes.

11. Slang. any person or thing.

    He's one of those smart, handsome suckers everybody likes. They're good boots, but the suckers pinch my feet.

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verb (used with object)

• suckers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• suckered,
  past participle,  past
• suckering
  present participle

1. Slang. to make a sucker of; fool; hoodwink.

   another person suckered by a con artist.

verb (used without object)

• suckers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• suckered,
  past participle,  past
• suckering
  present participle

1. to send out suckers or shoots, as a plant.

sucker British  

/ ˈsʌkə /

noun

1. a person or thing that sucks

2. slang a person who is easily deceived or swindled

3. slang a person who cannot resist the attractions of a particular type of person or thing

   he's a sucker for blondes

4. a young animal that is not yet weaned, esp a suckling pig

5. zoology an organ that is specialized for sucking or adhering

6. a cup-shaped device, generally made of rubber, that may be attached to articles allowing them to adhere to a surface by suction

7. botany

   1. a strong shoot that arises in a mature plant from a root, rhizome, or the base of the main stem

   2. a short branch of a parasitic plant that absorbs nutrients from the host

8. a pipe or tube through which a fluid is drawn by suction

9. any small mainly North American cyprinoid fish of the family Catostomidae, having toothless jaws and a large sucking mouth

10. any of certain fishes that have sucking discs, esp the clingfish or sea snail

11. a piston in a suction pump or the valve in such a piston

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verb

1. (tr) to strip off the suckers from (a plant)

2. (intr) (of a plant) to produce suckers

sucker Scientific  

/ sŭk′ər /

1. A part by which an animal sucks blood from or uses suction to cling to another animal. Leeches and remoras have suckers.

2. A shoot growing from the base or root of a tree or shrub and giving rise to a new plant, a clone of the plant from which it comes. The growth of suckers is a form of asexual reproduction.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• suckerlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• suckers
  plural

Participles

• suckering
  present
• suckered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sucker
  simple
• suckers
  simple
• have suckered
  perfect
• has suckered
  perfect
• am suckering
  progressive
• are suckering
  progressive
• is suckering
  progressive
• have been suckering
  perfect progressive
• has been suckering
  perfect progressive

Past

• suckered
  simple
• had suckered
  perfect
• was suckering
  progressive
• were suckering
  progressive
• had been suckering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sucker
  simple
• will have suckered
  perfect
• will be suckering
  progressive
• will have been suckering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sucker

1350–1400; 1835–45 sucker for def. 2; Middle English; see suck, -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sucker suckers suckered suckering

The Three Lions were five minutes from a first final appearance in 60 years, until the defending champions produced a two-goal sucker punch to rescue a 2-1 win.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

It was Barnum who said not only that a sucker was born every minute, but that you should “never give a sucker an even break.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

The part of me that’s a sucker for goal-setting and self-transformation also wondered: What if, rather than reject the parenting canon, I were to embrace it?

From Slate ● May 10, 2026

Far too open at the back throughout the game, City were caught by a sucker punch in the 22nd minute.

From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026

Jose went up for the layup, took a shot in the mouth, but made that sucker.

From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers

Before activating my own Lightning Lane, I studied tutorials on Reddit and YouTube, where I learned that only suckers make a ride reservation and patiently wait for their designated time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

"With their tentacles and their suckers they could perfectly hold on to such an animal and there is no escape," said Christian Klug, a palaeontologist at the University of Zurich, who reviewed the research.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

Even actors, the biggest suckers for rewarding bold performances involving transformation, wouldn’t nominate him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2026

That means dupes are just one of many issues facing home furnishing and improvement stocks that may leave investors feeling like suckers.

From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025

Sayonara, suckers, I thought as I pulled out every last hair that bridged my eyebrows to each other.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

Don’t miss: ‘Don’t get suckered like I did’: I paid $185 to the wrong passport website.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

First, don’t assume you’re too sophisticated to be suckered.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

After 10 seconds, “Veridis Quo” fades, and the episode cuts from black to Henry and Yasmin privately assessing their next moves, analyzing how they were suckered by Whitney’s predatory charms.

From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026

Possibly has not been at his best with the ball, but still gets it right often enough for England to be suckered in.

From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2025

I couldn’t believe, didn’t want to believe, it was really going to happen, because I didn’t want to get suckered into waiting for the car to come.

From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott

Give this plant some room, and avoid disturbing the roots to reduce suckering.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 29, 2023

Pearce showed me many spicebush specimens that were browsed but are now suckering afresh.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 14, 2021

Is Karl-Bertil plotting another crime, suckering in a bohemian liberal intent on performing her own broad-mindedness, or is he just a broken soul desperate for a kind word?

From Slate ● Dec. 30, 2020

For a moment, I felt stupid for suckering myself into caring again.

From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2017

“Not suckering me here, are you, Jace? Tell you what, how about fleecing me for one pound?”

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell