suck

suck¹ S3 [sʌk] v

[: Old English; Origin: sucan]

1.) [I and T]

to take air, liquid etc into your mouth by making your lips form a small hole and using the muscles of your mouth to pull it in

suck sth in

▪ Michael put the cigarette to his lips and sucked in the smoke.

suck at

▪ a baby sucking at its mother's breast

suck sth up

▪ Jennie sucked up the last bit of milkshake with her straw.

2.) [I and T]

to hold something in your mouth and pull on it with your tongue and lips

▪ Don't suck your thumb, dear.

suck on

▪ a picture of Lara sucking on a lollipop

3.) [T]

to pull someone or something with great power and force into or out of a particular place

suck sth into sth

▪ A bird was sucked into one of the jet's engines.

suck sb/sth under/down

▪ The river sucked him under.

suck sth out of/from sth

▪ The fluid was sucked from his lungs.

4.) sth sucks

spoken not polite used when you dislike something very much or think something is very bad

▪ If you ask me, the whole thing sucks.

5.) suck it and see

BrE informal to use something or do something for a short time, to find out if it works, if you like it etc

be sucked in phr v

to become involved in a situation, especially a bad situation, when you do not want to

▪ The US has no intention of getting sucked into another war in Europe.

suck up phr v

to say or do a lot of nice things in order to make someone like you or to get what you want - used to show disapproval

suck up to

▪ He's always sucking up to the boss.

suck ²

suck² n [C usually singular]

an act of sucking