suckle

[ suhk-uhl ]
See synonyms for suckle on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),suck·led, suck·ling.
  1. to nurse at the breast or udder.

  2. to nourish or bring up.

  1. to put to suck.

verb (used without object),suck·led, suck·ling.
  1. to suck at the breast or udder.

Origin of suckle

1
1375–1425; late Middle English sucklen;see suck, -le

Other words from suckle

  • un·suck·led, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use suckle in a sentence

  • Perhaps she had known love; perhaps borne children, suckled them, and given them pet names.

    The Pocket R.L.S. | Robert Louis Stevenson
  • One cool June night he caught her hands within his, in the honey-suckled dimness of the Barbour side-porch.

    Mountain | Clement Wood
  • A young bear is captured, suckled by a woman, and assumes the aspects of a sacred animal.

  • The young elephant is suckled for two years, and during that period attains the stature of four feet and a half.

    The Desert World | Arthur Mangin
  • Thus one story tells how a Macdonald was suckled by a wolf quite after the fashion of Romulus.

British Dictionary definitions for suckle

suckle

/ (ˈsʌkəl) /


verb
  1. to give (a baby or young animal) milk from the breast or (of a baby, etc) to suck milk from the breast

  2. (tr) to bring up; nurture

Origin of suckle

1
C15: probably back formation from suckling

Derived forms of suckle

  • suckler, noun

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