suck
/sʌk/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.42 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An instance of drawing something into one's lungs by inhaling or into one's mouth by suction.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A part of a river towards which strong currents converge making navigation difficult.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A weak, self-pitying person; a person who refuses to go along with others, especially out of spite; a crybaby or sore loser.
Canadian usage; Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Bammer agreed “Probably a good idea,” he agreed with a quick suck on his straw, “won't stop you from picking up any of these chicks, though.”"
- "The infant took suck in an instant, pulling strongly."
- "On a proper workbench this can often be achieved between the end vice and a dog, though more sophisticated products use either the suck of a vacuum cleaner or just friction."
- "Vacuum for the park Mosuc is a street and park vacuum cleaner which its designers, Hollowell Engineering, Dearborn, Michigan, like to claim has more suck than most[.]"
- "[D]rop the head for less suck or raise it for more. A plow should not have too much suck or it will run on its nose in hard land and put unnecessary weight."
- "Marvelous stories were told of "the suck" in early times. It was said that the water was so compressed that it would bear an ax."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *sūkaną Proto-West Germanic *sūkan Old English sūcan Middle English souken English suck From Middle English souken, suken, from Old English sūcan (“to suck”), from Proto-West Germanic *sūkan, from Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck, suckle”), from Proto-Indo-European *sewg-, *sewk- (“to suck”). Cognate with Scots souke (“to suck”), obsolete Dutch zuiken (“to suck”), Limburgish zuken, zoeken (“to suck”). Akin also to Old English sūgan (“to suck”), West Frisian sûge, sûge (“to suck”), Dutch zuigen (“to suck”), German saugen (“to suck”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål suge (“to suck”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish suga (“to suck”), Icelandic sjúga (“to suck”), Latin sūgō (“suck”), Welsh sugno (“suck”). Related to soak.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: souken, sūcan, *sūkan, *sūkaną, *sewg-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /sʌk/