suck
verb /sʌk/
/sʌk/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they suck | /sʌk/ /sʌk/ |
| he / she / it sucks | /sʌks/ /sʌks/ |
| past simple sucked | /sʌkt/ /sʌkt/ |
| past participle sucked | /sʌkt/ /sʌkt/ |
| -ing form sucking | /ˈsʌkɪŋ/ /ˈsʌkɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] suck something (+ adv./prep.) to take liquid, air, etc. into your mouth by using the muscles of your lips
- to suck the juice from an orange
- She was noisily sucking up milk through a straw.
- He sucked the blood from a cut on his finger.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- noisily
- away
- in
- …
- at
- from
- on
- …
- [intransitive, transitive] to keep something in your mouth and pull on it with your lips and tongue
- suck at/on something The baby sucked at its mother's breast.
- He sucked at the wound on his hand.
- She sucked on a mint.
- suck something She sucked a mint.
- Stop sucking your thumb!
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- noisily
- away
- in
- …
- at
- from
- on
- …
- [transitive] to take liquid, air, etc. out of something
- suck something + adv./prep. The pump sucks air out through the valve.
- suck something + adj. Greenfly can literally suck a plant dry.
- The machine sucks up mud and stones from the bottom of the pond.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- noisily
- away
- in
- …
- at
- from
- on
- …
- [transitive] suck somebody/something + adv./prep. to pull somebody/something with great force in a particular direction
- The canoe was sucked down into the whirlpool.
- The mud had sucked him in up to his waist.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- noisily
- away
- in
- …
- at
- from
- on
- …
- something sucks[intransitive] (slang) used to say that something is very bad
- Their new album sucks.
Word OriginOld English sūcan (verb), from an Indo-European imitative root; related to soak.
Idioms
milk/suck somebody/something dry
- to get from somebody/something all the money, help, information, etc. they have, usually giving nothing in return
- By earning millions from racing and giving pennies back, the bookmakers are sucking the sport dry.
suck it and see
- (British English, informal) used to say that the only way to know if something is suitable is to try it
suck it up
- (especially North American English, informal) to accept something bad and deal with it well, controlling your emotions
teach your grandmother to suck eggs
- (British English, informal) to tell or show somebody how to do something that they can already do well, and probably better than you can