sucker

[suhk-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sucker 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.

Origin of sucker

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

Related formssuck·er·like, adjective

Can be confusedsuccor sucker

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sucker

fool, stooge, gull, patsy, dupe, chump, sap

Examples from the Web for sucker

Contemporary Examples of sucker

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

Historical Examples of sucker

An Indian, of the Sucker tribe, whom he had previously met, was sitting there.
Murder Point
Coningsby Dawson
In the oldest strata we find two wondrous creatures, the Devourer and the Sucker.
The Sea
Jules Michelet
Let us in the first place, in this chapter, speak of the first, the Sucker.
The Sea
Jules Michelet
The Sucker of the soft gelatinous world, was himself soft and gelatinous.
The Sea
Jules Michelet
Sucker said at once, “You may eat me if you can, but that has still to be decided.”
Myths and Legends of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes
Various

British Dictionary definitions for sucker

sucker

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

Word Origin and History for sucker

"young mammal before it is weaned," late 14c., agent noun from suck. Slang meaning "person who is easily deceived" is first attested 1836, American English, on notion of naivete; the verb in this sense is from 1939. But another theory traces the slang meaning to the fish called a sucker (1753), on the notion of being easy to catch in their annual migrations. Meaning "lollipop" is from 1823.

sucker in Science

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.