as in to nurse
to give milk to from the breast
the image of a mother suckling her babe is a standard artistic symbol of maternal love and nurturing
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of suckle
What are the neurons that make muscles ache and fatigue, or trigger migraines, or cause milk to flow in a mother’s breast when her baby suckles?
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Ariel Bleicher, Quanta Magazine, 16 Apr. 2025
The older pair are named Romulus and Remus after the mythological founders of Rome, who are traditionally depicted as being suckled by a she-wolf.
—Jon Schlosberg, ABC News, 7 Apr. 2025
Avoiding them is all but impossible in a world where water supplies are tainted and babies suckle on plastic bottles from their earliest days on earth.
—Jamie Ducharme, TIME, 13 Feb. 2025
Joan jumped on her leg in an attempt to get some and started to suckle the cheese.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for suckle
Ariel Bleicher, Quanta Magazine, 16 Apr. 2025
The older pair are named Romulus and Remus after the mythological founders of Rome, who are traditionally depicted as being suckled by a she-wolf.
—Jon Schlosberg, ABC News, 7 Apr. 2025
Avoiding them is all but impossible in a world where water supplies are tainted and babies suckle on plastic bottles from their earliest days on earth.
—Jamie Ducharme, TIME, 13 Feb. 2025
Joan jumped on her leg in an attempt to get some and started to suckle the cheese.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for suckle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suckle
Verb
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Safety Nick Emmanwori, who's dealing with an ankle injury, is listed as doubtful, and running back Zach Charbonnet, who's nursing a foot injury, is listed as questionable.—
Anne Erickson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
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Brock Bowers, nursing an injured knee but active Sunday, caught just four passes for 38 yards.—
Colton Pouncy,
New York Times,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Pediatricians widely recommend exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months of an infant’s life, but many parents can’t, for a range of medical, economic, and personal reasons—not least that feeding and pumping are incredibly time-consuming.—
Yasmin Tayag,
The Atlantic,
14 Sep. 2025
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Extended Breastfeeding Is Still Taboo in America In American culture in particular there is much pressure to wean toddlers, who are considered too old to breastfeed, perhaps because there is still a misguided sexualization of breastfeeding parents in this country.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Suckle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suckle. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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