sucker

sucker
—suckerlike, adj.
/suk"euhr/, n.
1. a person or thing that sucks.
2. Informal. a person easily cheated, deceived, or imposed upon.
3. an infant or a young animal that is suckled, esp. a suckling pig.
4. a part or organ of an animal adapted for sucking nourishment, or for adhering to an object as by suction.
5. any of several freshwater, mostly North American food fishes of the family Catostomidae, having thick lips: some are now rare.
6. Informal. a lollipop.
7. the piston of a pump that works by suction, or the valve of such a piston.
8. a pipe or tube through which something is drawn or sucked.
9. Bot. a shoot rising from a subterranean stem or root.
10. Informal. a person attracted to something as indicated: He's a sucker for new clothes.
11. Slang. any person or thing: He's one of those smart, handsome suckers everybody likes. They're good boots, but the suckers pinch my feet.
v.t.
12. Slang. to make a sucker of; fool; hoodwink: another person suckered by a con artist.
v.i.
13. to send out suckers or shoots, as a plant.
[1350-1400; 1835-45 for def. 2; ME; see SUCK, -ER1]

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Any of 80–100 species (family Catostomidae) of freshwater food fishes found mostly in North America.

Suckers can be distinguished from minnows by the sucking mouth, with protrusible lips, on the underside of the head. Generally sluggish, they suck up detritus, invertebrates, and plants from the bottom of lakes and slow streams. The species vary greatly in size. The lake chubsucker (Erimyzon sucetta) grows to 10 in. (25 cm) long; the bigmouth buffalo fish (Ictiobus cyprinellus) grows to 35 in. (90 cm) and over 70 lbs (32 kg).

Sucker (Catostomus)

Grant Heilman

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▪ fish
 any of the freshwater fishes constituting the family Catostomidae, similar to and closely related to the carp and minnows (Cyprinidae). There are about 80 to 100 species of suckers; except for a few species in Asia, all are North American. Many suckers are almost indistinguishable from minnows, but catostomids may often be recognized by the sucking, usually ventral mouth with protrusible lips.

      Suckers live on the bottom of lakes and slow streams and feed by sucking up invertebrates and plants. Generally rather sluggish fishes, the species vary considerably in size. The lake chubsucker (Erimyzon sucetta), for example, is a small species up to 25 cm (10 inches) long; the bigmouth buffalo fish (Ictiobus cyprinellus), a large sucker, measures up to 90 cm in length and 33 kg (73 pounds) in weight. Suckers are bony but are fished commercially and to some extent for sport. The various genera are known by such names as hog sucker (Hypentelium), buffalo fish (Ictiobus), carpsucker (Carpiodes), and redhorse, or jumprock (Moxostoma).

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sucker — Suck er (s[u^]k [ e]r), n. 1. One who, or that which, sucks; esp., one of the organs by which certain animals, as the octopus and remora, adhere to other bodies. [1913 Webster] 2. A suckling; a sucking animal. Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster] 3. The… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Sucker — may refer to: * Lollipop or sucker, a type of confection * Basal shoot or sucker, a shoot or cane that grows from the base of a tree or shrub * Sucker (fish) or Catostomidae, a family of fish of the order Cypriniformes * Suckers, cup shaped parts …   Wikipedia

  • Sucker — Suck er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Suckered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Suckering}.] 1. To strip off the suckers or shoots from; to deprive of suckers; as, to sucker maize. [1913 Webster] 2. To cheat or deceive (a gullible person); to make a sucker of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Sucker — ist der Name folgender Personen: Klaus Jürgen Sucker (* 1956; † 1994), Zoologe und Verhaltensforscher Wolfgang Sucker (* 1905; † 1968), evangelischer Theologe und Kirchenpräsident der Evangelischen Kirche in Hessen und Nassau Diese Seite ist eine …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • sucker — young mammal before it is weaned, late 14c., agent noun from SUCK (Cf. suck). Slang meaning person who is easily deceived is first attested 1836, Amer.Eng., on notion of naivete; the verb in this sense is from 1939. But another theory traces the… …   Etymology dictionary

  • sucker — ► NOUN 1) a rubber cup that adheres to a surface by suction. 2) a flat or concave organ enabling an animal to cling to a surface by suction. 3) informal a gullible person. 4) (a sucker for) informal a person especially susceptible to or fond of… …   English terms dictionary

  • Sucker — Suck er, v. i. To form suckers; as, corn suckers abundantly. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Sucker — Assez rare en France, ce nom semble désigner, comme Suck (57), celui qui est originaire d une localité allemande appelée Suckau ou Suckow (Allemagne orientale) …   Noms de famille

  • sucker — [suk′ər] n. 1. a person or thing that sucks ☆ 2. any of a family (Catostomidae, order Cypriniformes) of bony fishes with a mouth adapted for sucking, found in freshwater of E Asia and North America 3. a part or device used for sucking; specif.,… …   English World dictionary

  • sucker — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) n., informal, lollipop, all day sucker, sourball; slang, dupe, gull, pushover, [easy] mark, soft touch. See credulity, sweetness. II (Roget s IV) n. 1. [A fish] Common suckers include: black horse, red… …   English dictionary for students

  • sucker — [[t]sʌ̱kə(r)[/t]] suckers, suckering, suckered 1) N COUNT; N VOC (disapproval) If you call someone a sucker, you mean that it is very easy to cheat them. [INFORMAL] But that is what the suckers want so you give it them... Keep giving us your… …   English dictionary

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