suctorial

[suhk-tawr-ee-uh l, -tohr-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR suctorial ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

adapted for sucking or suction, as an organ; functioning as a sucker for imbibing or adhering.

having sucking organs; imbibing or adhering by suckers.

pertaining to or characterized by suction.

RELATED WORDS

aspiratory, paratrophic

Nearby words

Origin of suctorial

1825–35; < New Latin sūctōri(us) (see suctorian) + -al¹

Related formsnon·suc·to·ri·al, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for suctorial

To these may be added the suctorial mouth of the Myxinoid fishes.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)|Francis Maitland Balfour
Biting mandibles; second maxillae incompletely or completely fused; often forming a suctorial proboscis.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4|Various
If, of course, its suctorial mouth had arisen from an ancestral gnathostomatous mouth, then the argument would have more force.
The Origin of Vertebrates|Walter Holbrook Gaskell
It seems likely that any suctorial insect which feeds on a plague-stricken rat will take numbers of the bacilli into its stomach.
The Flea|Harold Russell

The young fish on hatching immediately used its suctorial disc to attach itself to the sides of the vessel in which it was placed.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)|Francis Maitland Balfour

British Dictionary definitions for suctorial

suctorial

adjective

specialized for sucking or adheringthe suctorial mouthparts of certain insects

relating to or possessing suckers or suction

Word Origin for suctorial

C19: from New Latin suctōrius, from Latin sūgere to suck

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

Medicine definitions for suctorial

suctorial

[sŭk-tôr′ē-əl]

adj.

Relating to or adapted for sucking.