suckle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to nurse at the breast or udder.
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to nourish or bring up.
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to put to suck.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to give (a baby or young animal) milk from the breast or (of a baby, etc) to suck milk from the breast
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(tr) to bring up; nurture
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sucklesimple
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sucklessimple
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have suckledperfect
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has suckledperfect
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am sucklingprogressive
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are sucklingprogressive
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is sucklingprogressive
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have been sucklingperfect progressive
-
has been sucklingperfect progressive
Past
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suckledsimple
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had suckledperfect
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was sucklingprogressive
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were sucklingprogressive
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had been sucklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of suckle
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.
On Thursday morning, she tried to get her 9-month-old daughter to suckle.
From Washington Times • Aug. 21, 2022
When he was first taken from Menari, Roux — who wasn’t yet named — couldn’t even suckle, said Forbes.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 24, 2022
Meanwhile, Love Shaiska was struggling to suckle, forcing her parents to pull together cash to buy formula.
From Reuters • Aug. 23, 2021
There was no guarantee that the other mothers would protect Lucy, much less allow her to suckle, as that would mean fewer precious nutrients for their own calves.
From Scientific American • Jul. 20, 2021
I had spent the first week of my life at the threshold between two worlds, too sick to suckle, too weak to wail.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
