suckle

[suhk-uh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR suckle ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), suck·led, suck·ling.

to nurse at the breast or udder.

to nourish or bring up.

to put to suck.

verb (used without object), suck·led, suck·ling.

to suck at the breast or udder.

Origin of suckle

1375–1425; late Middle English sucklen; see suck, -le

Related formsun·suck·led, adjective

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

Related Words for suckle

nurture, nourish

Examples from the Web for suckle

Contemporary Examples of suckle

It is Ma who suggests to Rose of Sharon that she suckle a starving man.
Is There a Ma Joad for the Piketty Era?
Katie Baker
July 1, 2014

Historical Examples of suckle

Before daybreak, the doe always returned to suckle her little one.
Creatures of the Night
Alfred W. Rees
Again and again he reverts to the mother's duty to suckle the child herself.
Erasmus and the Age of Reformation
Johan Huizinga
The calf should be allowed to suckle or be fed from the pail for six or eight months.
Cattle and Cattle-breeders
William M'Combie
Because the mother will not be likely to recover so long as she continues to suckle at all.
Remarks on the Subject of Lactation
Edward Morton
Willingly the gentle animal allowed the little child to suckle it.
Legends of the Rhine
Wilhelm Ruland

British Dictionary definitions for suckle

suckle

verb

to give (a baby or young animal) milk from the breast or (of a baby, etc) to suck milk from the breast

(tr) to bring up; nurture

Derived Formssuckler, noun

Word Origin for suckle

C15: probably back formation from suckling

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 suckle

c.1400, perhaps a causative form of Middle English suken "to suck" (see suck), or a back-formation from suckling (though this word is attested only from mid-15c.). Related: Suckled; suckling.