suck
Americanverb (used with object)
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sucks,
present (3rd person singular)
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sucked,
past participle, past
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sucking
present participle
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to draw into the mouth by producing a partial vacuum by action of the lips and tongue.
to suck lemonade through a straw.
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to draw (water, moisture, air, etc.) by or as if by suction.
Plants suck moisture from the earth. The pump sucked water from the basement.
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to apply the lips or mouth to and draw upon by producing a partial vacuum, especially for extracting fluid contents.
to suck an orange.
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to put into the mouth and draw upon.
to suck one's thumb.
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to take into the mouth and dissolve by the action of the tongue, saliva, etc..
to suck a piece of candy.
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to render or bring to a specified condition by or as if by sucking.
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Slang: Vulgar. to perform fellatio on (sometimes followed byoff ).
verb (used without object)
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sucks,
present (3rd person singular)
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sucked,
past participle, past
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sucking
present participle
-
to draw something in by producing a partial vacuum in the mouth, especially to draw milk from the breast.
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to draw or be drawn by or as if by suction.
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(of a pump) to draw air instead of water, as when the water is low or a valve is defective.
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Slang. to be repellent or unpleasant.
Poverty sucks.
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Slang. to be inferior, as in quality or execution; be poor.
Everyone says the show sucks. She sucks at tennis.
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Slang. to behave in a fawning manner (usually followed byaround ).
noun
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an act or instance of sucking.
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a sucking force.
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the sound produced by sucking.
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that which is sucked; nourishment drawn from the breast.
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a small drink; sip.
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a whirlpool.
verb phrase
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suck in to deceive; cheat; defraud.
The confidence man sucked us all in.
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suck up to be obsequious; toady.
The workers are all sucking up to him because he's the one who decides who'll get the bonuses.
idioms
verb
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to draw (a liquid or other substance) into the mouth by creating a partial vacuum in the mouth
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to draw in (fluid, etc) by or as if by a similar action
plants suck moisture from the soil
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to drink milk from (a mother's breast); suckle
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(tr) to extract fluid content from (a solid food)
to suck a lemon
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(tr) to take into the mouth and moisten, dissolve, or roll around with the tongue
to suck one's thumb
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(tr; often foll by down, in, etc) to draw by using irresistible force
the whirlpool sucked him down
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(intr) (of a pump) to draw in air because of a low supply level or leaking valves, pipes, etc
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(tr) to assimilate or acquire (knowledge, comfort, etc)
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slang (intr) to be contemptible or disgusting
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informal doing very well; successful
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informal to try something to find out what it is, what it is like, or how it works
noun
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the act or an instance of sucking
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something that is sucked, esp milk from the mother's breast
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to give (a baby or young animal) milk from the breast or udder
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an attracting or sucking force
the suck of the whirlpool was very strong
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a sound caused by sucking
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sucksimple
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suckssimple
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have suckedperfect
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has suckedperfect
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am suckingprogressive
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are suckingprogressive
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is suckingprogressive
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have been suckingperfect progressive
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has been suckingperfect progressive
Past
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suckedsimple
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had suckedperfect
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was suckingprogressive
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were suckingprogressive
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had been suckingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of suck
First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English souken, Old English sūcan, cognate with Latin sūgere; (noun) Middle English souke “act of suckling,” derivative of the noun; akin to soak
Explanation
To suck is to draw something by force. Vacuum cleaners suck dirt from the floor and milkshake drinkers suck this liquid, tasty liquid through a straw. Drinking something by pulling it into your mouth is to suck it. You can also suck on something, like a peppermint or a thumb, by holding it in your mouth. Objects can suck too — a fan sucks warm air out the window. You can also suck someone into your plans, meaning you force them to participate. The word suck comes from the Proto-Indo-European sug, from the sound your mouth makes when you suck on something.
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.
See Examples For:
He continues by "mewing," a TikTok trend where people suck in their cheeks and point a finger at their jawline to emphasize their chiseled features.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
Earlier this year, fears that AI developers and labs would suck the value out of software, data, legal services and more erupted in the equity markets, battering software stocks, including ServiceNow’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
"We create, basically, a tornado – a violent vortex inside the tunnel," says Helming, as he explains how this helps the machine to suck away debris, which at times takes the form of lava.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Doesn’t it always suck to get around an airport, no matter what vehicle you’re on?
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
“I guess I can help out sometimes. Just not all —” “And me quitting saves you time. I don’t have to suck up to Blakeman anymore, so you can quit going to the nursing home.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
In nearly a decade I have never had a student say: You know what really sucks?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
"It kind of sucks and I do get a little salty seeing all this extra AI money squeeze everyone else out."
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
The number of social-media groups and threads predicated on the opinion that Bowlero/Lucky Strike absolutely sucks testifies to the number of both serious bowlers and casual enthusiasts who see the corporation as an invasive rot.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
It sucks now because I’m like, “That’s all they know me for. Not ‘Crash,’ not ‘World Trade Center,’ not all the movies that were nominated, this and that.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
I got the new Alice Wu at the library, but the cover sucks.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
A month before the documentary premiered on Netflix, a passenger was partially sucked through a broken window on a 737-800 Boeing plane when the cabin lost pressure after the plane took off from Thessaloniki, Greece.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
The offer of credit, with few conditions attached, has also sucked in workers from the gig economy, with the platforms for which they work sometimes acting as their lenders.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
What happens here, mechanically speaking, is that liquidity is sucked out of the financial system and diverted to the real economy, in Howell’s words.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Divers’ primary tool was a vacuum-like system called a dredge, which sucked up sediment from inside the wreck and deposited it into baskets on the sea floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
He was sucked inside, spinning head over tail through a portal of blinding crimson light.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Unchecked real estate growth in Phoenix, and the appetite of California farmers for alfalfa -- a lucrative, highly water-intensive crop that feeds livestock -- are both sucking up resources.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
The giant sucking sound in private-credit funds got louder in the second quarter as investors tried to pull more money out and got less back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
It’s bad for everybody, except for the fraudster that’s running some kind of scam and sucking money out of streaming that legitimately should be going to real artists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
These costs have been catching employers off guard, especially with the increased use of agentic AI sucking up tokens.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
And that’s exactly what Jay, already ankle deep in the sucking mud, was doing.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
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.
