suck

The word “suck” means to draw liquid or air into the mouth using the lips and tongue. In plain terms, to pull in liquid or air with the mouth, or (informally) to be really bad.

“Suck” is pronounced suhk (/sʌk/ in IPA).

Here is “suck” used in a sentence: “The baby began to suck hungrily at the bottle.”

“Suck” is a verb.

The word “suck” comes from Old English. From Old English sucan, from Proto-Germanic sukana, ultimately imitative of the sucking sound.

“Suck” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“Suck” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to draw liquid or air into the mouth using the lips and tongue.

Sucking draws liquid or air inward using suction from the lips and tongue, as through a straw. Sipping means drinking a small amount slowly, usually straight from a cup or glass without strong suction. You suck a drink up through a straw, but you sip it from the rim of a mug.

They are opposites in direction. Sucking pulls air or liquid inward, toward or into the mouth, using suction. Blowing pushes air outward from the mouth instead. A straw sucks a drink upward, while blowing out birthday candles pushes air the other way. One draws in; the other forces out.

"The baby sucked milk from the bottle" captures the core meaning — drawing liquid into the mouth. Other everyday examples include sucking a drink through a straw, sucking on a boiled sweet, or a pump sucking water up a pipe. The word centres on the pulling, suction-based action.

Yes. Beyond drawing in liquid or air, "suck" is used informally to mean something is bad or disappointing, as in "this weather sucks." It can also describe something pulling inward strongly, like a whirlpool sucking objects down. The literal sense — drawing in through the mouth — remains the original meaning.