suck English · revision 5200

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=a. 830|origins=ine-pro *seue-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sʌk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|souken|alt=suken, souken]], [[inh|ang|sūcan]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Proto-Germanic *suk-,^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*seue-|t=to take liquid]], probably imitative,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) the source also of Latin sūgere “to suck” and sūcus “juice”, and Old Irish súgim.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) A parallel form gave Old English sūgan, Dutch zuigen and German saugen.^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[soak]] and [[suction]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To draw milk from the breast or udder into the mouth: before 830 in Old English, and about 1150 in Middle English.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of blood, as of biting flies, it is from the mid-14th century, and ''suck the blood of'', to exhaust, by the 1580s.^(Etymonline) The noun, the act of sucking, is from about 1300,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) a small drink from the 1620s, and the suck of a whirlpool by 1778.^(Etymonline) ''Teach your grandmother to suck eggs'' is from 1732.^(Etymonline) ''Suck up to'', to flatter, was schoolboys' slang of the mid-19th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The sense “to perform fellatio” is recorded by 1928,^(Etymonline) and the slang “to be contemptible” by 1971.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 830 – to suck milk.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – noun.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – of blood.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1732 – ''teach your grandmother to suck eggs''.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-19th century – ''suck up to''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1971 – to be contemptible.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To draw liquid into the mouth using the lips and tongue.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To hold something in the mouth and draw on it: ''suck a sweet''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To pull something in by [[suction]] or as by a current.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal, with up)'' To try to please someone in power; to [[fawn]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(slang)'' To be very bad or unpleasant.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of sucking.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[suckless]]

+ * [[suck-up]]

+ * [[unsucked]]

+ * [[honeysuckle]]

+ * [[outsuck]]

+ * [[suckfish]]

+ * [[sucker]]

+ * [[suckle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[suckling]]

+ * [[suction]]

+ * [[soak]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}