suckle

IPA/ˈsʌkl/
KK[sˈʌkəl]IPA/ˈsʌkl/

suckle — verb

  • sucklepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • suckleshe / she / it
  • suckledpast simple
  • suckling-ing form

1. Of a female mammal: to feed her young by letting them draw milk directly from he

1.動詞及物 / 不及物C1
釋義

Of a female mammal: to feed her young by letting them draw milk directly from her body. Also of the young: to take in milk by sucking at the mother.

例句

The ewe suckled her newborn lamb in the corner of the barn.

transitive: [mother animal] + suckle + [young]

The calf began to suckle as soon as it could stand on its trembling legs.

intransitive: [young animal] + suckle

同義詞
  • nurse

    more common; can include bottle-feeding in some contexts

  • breastfeed

    narrower: only for human mothers feeding babies from the breast

反義詞
  • wean

    to stop feeding a baby or young animal with milk and start giving solid food

文法句型

[mother/animal] + suckle + [baby/young]

[baby/young] + suckle

用法筆記

Applies to both humans and animals. Unlike 'breastfeed,' which is used only for human mothers and always takes the mother as subject, 'suckle' can take either the mother or the young as its subject.

常見錯誤

❌The mother breastfed her litter of puppies.
✅The mother suckled her litter of puppies.
💡'breastfeed' is only used for human mothers feeding human babies.