sucker

[ suhk-er ]

/ ˈsʌk ər /

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See synonyms for: sucker / suckered / suckering on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person or thing that sucks.

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

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

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

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

Informal. a lollipop.

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

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

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

Informal. a person attracted to something as indicated: He's a sucker for new clothes.

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.

verb (used with object)

Slang. to make a sucker of; fool; hoodwink: another person suckered by a con artist.

verb (used without object)

to send out suckers or shoots, as a plant.

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Origin of sucker

1350–1400; 1835–45 for def. 2; Middle English; see suck, -er¹

OTHER WORDS FROM sucker

suck·er·like, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH sucker

succor, sucker

Words nearby sucker

suchlike, suchness, Su-chou, Süchow, suck, sucker, sucker bait, suckerfish, sucker list, sucker-punch, sucket fork

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sucker in a sentence

Climate change could turn some dog ticks into suckers for humans instead of canines.
Dog ticks may get more of a taste for human blood as the climate changes|Aayushi Pratap|November 30, 2020|Science News
Embedded in the suckers, these cells enable the arms to do double duty of touch and taste by detecting chemicals produced by many aquatic creatures.
How octopuses ‘taste’ things by touching|Jonathan Lambert|October 29, 2020|Science News
Detailed imaging identified what appeared to be sensory cells, some with fine branched endings, at the surface of suckers.
How octopuses ‘taste’ things by touching|Jonathan Lambert|October 29, 2020|Science News
The regulatory action was a sucker punch to Citi, but Wilmarth argues that, in a way, it actually bolsters Fraser’s position.
How Jane Fraser broke banking’s highest glass ceiling|Claire Zillman, reporter|October 19, 2020|Fortune

After all, I was a hungry kid, and one of those suckers wasn’t going to satisfy my bottomless pit of an adolescent stomach.
The Rise and Fall of the Rice Cake, America’s One-Time Favorite Health Snack|Brenna Houck|September 17, 2020|Eater
Sucker," the young man taunted, "I should be fighting Patterson, not you.
The Stacks: Harold Conrad Was Many Things, But He Was Never, Ever Dull|Mark Jacobson|March 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Château Sucker Benjamin Wallace, New York Rare-wine collectors are savvy, competitive guys with a taste for impossible finds.
The Week’s Best Longreads: The Daily Beast Picks for May 18, 2012|David Sessions|May 18, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Indeed, Madame Sucker thought it quite vulgar in the tortoise to be so eager after the cakes and wine.
Japanese Fairy World|William Elliot Griffis
So she ran for the fording place on Sucker Creek, which was a good half mile above the shack in which the stranger was living.
The Country Beyond|James Oliver Curwood
Fish Hawk said, “I will take that fellow, Sucker, lying in the water there.”
Myths and Legends of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes|Various
Nothing doing in the way of buying booms around Sucker Brook.
Shorty McCabe on the Job|Sewell Ford
When he reached the place where Wind Sucker lived, he looked into his mouth and saw there many dead people.
Blackfeet Indian Stories|George Bird Grinnell

British Dictionary definitions for sucker

sucker

/ (ˈsʌkə) /

noun

a person or thing that sucks

slang a person who is easily deceived or swindled

slang a person who cannot resist the attractions of a particular type of person or thinghe's a sucker for blondes

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

zoology an organ that is specialized for sucking or adhering

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

botany

a strong shoot that arises in a mature plant from a root, rhizome, or the base of the main stem
a short branch of a parasitic plant that absorbs nutrients from the host

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

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

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

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

verb

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

(intr) (of a plant) to produce suckers

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for sucker

sucker

[ sŭk′ər ]

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

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.

sucker

Origin of sucker

OTHER WORDS FROM sucker

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH sucker

Words nearby sucker

Words related to sucker

How to use sucker in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sucker

Scientific definitions for sucker