Suck"er (sŭk"&etilde;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.
2. A suckling; a sucking animal.
Beau. & Fl.
3. The embolus, or bucket, of a pump; also,
the valve of a pump basket. Boyle.
4. A pipe through which anything is
drawn.
5. A small piece of leather, usually round,
having a string attached to the center, which, when saturated with
water and pressed upon a stone or other body having a smooth surface,
adheres, by reason of the atmospheric pressure, with such force as to
enable a considerable weight to be thus lifted by the string; -- used
by children as a plaything.
6. (Bot.) A shoot from the roots or
lower part of the stem of a plant; -- so called, perhaps, from
diverting nourishment from the body of the plant.
7. (Zoöl.) (a) Any
one of numerous species of North American fresh-water cyprinoid fishes
of the family Catostomidæ; so called because the lips are
protrusile. The flesh is coarse, and they are of little value as food.
The most common species of the Eastern United States are the northern
sucker (Catostomus Commersoni), the white sucker (C.
teres), the hog sucker (C. nigricans), and the chub, or
sweet sucker (Erimyzon sucetta). Some of the large Western
species are called buffalo fish, red horse, black
horse, and suckerel. (b) The
remora. (c) The lumpfish.
(d) The hagfish, or myxine.
(e) A California food fish (Menticirrus
undulatus) closely allied to the kingfish (a); --
called also bagre.
8. A parasite; a sponger. See def. 6,
above.
They who constantly converse with men far above their
estates shall reap shame and loss thereby; if thou payest nothing,
they will count thee a sucker, no branch.
Fuller.
9. A hard drinker; a soaker. [Slang]
10. A greenhorn; one easily gulled.
[Slang, U.S.]
11. A nickname applied to a native of
Illinois. [U. S.]
Carp sucker, Cherry sucker,
etc. See under Carp, Cherry, etc. --
Sucker fish. See Sucking fish, under
Sucking. -- Sucker rod, a pump rod.
See under Pump. -- Sucker tube
(Zoöl.), one of the external ambulacral tubes of an
echinoderm, -- usually terminated by a sucker and used for locomotion.
Called also sucker foot. See Spatangoid.
Suck"er (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Suckered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Suckering.] To strip off the suckers or shoots from; to
deprive of suckers; as, to sucker maize.
Suck"er, v. i. To form suckers; as,
corn suckers abundantly.
Suck"er (sŭk"&etilde;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.
2. A suckling; a sucking animal.
Beau. & Fl.
3. The embolus, or bucket, of a pump; also,
the valve of a pump basket. Boyle.
4. A pipe through which anything is
drawn.
5. A small piece of leather, usually round,
having a string attached to the center, which, when saturated with
water and pressed upon a stone or other body having a smooth surface,
adheres, by reason of the atmospheric pressure, with such force as to
enable a considerable weight to be thus lifted by the string; -- used
by children as a plaything.
6. (Bot.) A shoot from the roots or
lower part of the stem of a plant; -- so called, perhaps, from
diverting nourishment from the body of the plant.
7. (Zoöl.) (a) Any
one of numerous species of North American fresh-water cyprinoid fishes
of the family Catostomidæ; so called because the lips are
protrusile. The flesh is coarse, and they are of little value as food.
The most common species of the Eastern United States are the northern
sucker (Catostomus Commersoni), the white sucker (C.
teres), the hog sucker (C. nigricans), and the chub, or
sweet sucker (Erimyzon sucetta). Some of the large Western
species are called buffalo fish, red horse, black
horse, and suckerel. (b) The
remora. (c) The lumpfish.
(d) The hagfish, or myxine.
(e) A California food fish (Menticirrus
undulatus) closely allied to the kingfish (a); --
called also bagre.
8. A parasite; a sponger. See def. 6,
above.
They who constantly converse with men far above their
estates shall reap shame and loss thereby; if thou payest nothing,
they will count thee a sucker, no branch.
Fuller.
9. A hard drinker; a soaker. [Slang]
10. A greenhorn; one easily gulled.
[Slang, U.S.]
11. A nickname applied to a native of
Illinois. [U. S.]
Carp sucker, Cherry sucker,
etc. See under Carp, Cherry, etc. --
Sucker fish. See Sucking fish, under
Sucking. -- Sucker rod, a pump rod.
See under Pump. -- Sucker tube
(Zoöl.), one of the external ambulacral tubes of an
echinoderm, -- usually terminated by a sucker and used for locomotion.
Called also sucker foot. See Spatangoid.
Suck"er (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Suckered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Suckering.] To strip off the suckers or shoots from; to
deprive of suckers; as, to sucker maize.
Suck"er, v. i. To form suckers; as,
corn suckers abundantly.
