suckle

verb

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suck·le | \ ˈsə-kəl

suckled; suckling\ ˈsə-k(ə-)liŋ

Definition of suckle

transitive verb

1a : to give milk to from the breast or udder a mother suckling her child

b : to nurture as if by giving milk from the breast was suckled on pulp magazines

2 : to draw milk from the breast or udder of lambs suckling the ewes

intransitive verb

: to draw milk from the breast or udder

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Examples of suckle in a Sentence

a cat suckling her kittens the image of a mother suckling her babe is a standard artistic symbol of maternal love and nurturing

Recent Examples on the Web The last straw happened when Hera agreed to suckle the baby Heracles, a nice, forgiving gesture. — Brian T. Allen, National Review, "The Covid Hydra Bites a Baltimore Museum," 30 Oct. 2020 But to his mind, there was a clumsy, and perhaps stupid, logic informing a country that allowed the historical difficulties that marked its conception to suckle so freely at the national breast. — Caryl Phillips, The New York Review of Books, "Walcott in New York," 29 July 2020 Successive Egyptian leaders have indulged in grandiose schemes that suckle from the river, including Mr. el-Sisi, who is building a sprawling new administrative capital in the desert outside Cairo that experts say will deplete the Nile further. — Declan Walsh And Somini Sengupta Graphics By Jeremy White Photographs By Laura Boushnak, New York Times, "For Thousands of Years, Egypt Controlled the Nile. A New Dam Threatens That.," 9 Feb. 2020 Some slaves, Jones-Rogers could say, were even known to serve as wet nurses, suckling the babes of their white counterparts. — Nathan Deuel, Los Angeles Times, "Helpless women? Not these slave owners," 17 Apr. 2020 Successive Egyptian leaders have indulged in grandiose schemes that suckle from the river, including el-Sissi, who is building a sprawling new administrative capital in the desert outside Cairo that experts said will deplete the Nile further. — Declan Walsh, BostonGlobe.com, "For thousands of years, Egypt controlled the Nile. A new dam threatens that.," 9 Feb. 2020 Classic dishes will reappear on the menu, too, like bluefish wrapped in pancetta, suckling pig, and chorizo-stuffed lamb leg in addition to Goin’s latest menu for spring, which launched today. — Ellen Fort, Sunset Magazine, "Lucques, an LA Dining Icon, to Close After 21 Years," 11 Mar. 2020 What kind of shameless black woman imagines a little white boy sucking on the tip of an African girl’s banana skirt as the girl also suckles herself? — Zadie Smith, The New York Review of Books, "What Do We Want History to Do to Us?," 11 Feb. 2020 Gillin said the method is used on suckling pigs and neonatal animals in the euthanasia guidelines. — oregonlive, "A bobcat wandered into an Oregon school. State agencies killed it, and people want to know why.," 13 Nov. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'suckle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.