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suck·le

(sŭkəl)

v. suck·led, suck·ling, suck·les

v.tr.

a. To cause or allow to take milk at the breast or teat; nurse: a mare suckling her foal.

b. To take milk from (the mother, a breast, or a teat): a baby suckling its mother's breast.

2. To take in as sustenance; have as nourishment: suckled courage from her strong mother.

3. To nourish as if with the milk of the breast; nurture: suckled on video games and comic books.

v.intr.

To suck at the breast or teat.

[Middle English suclen, perhaps from suklinge, suckling; see SUCKLING.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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