Suckling

noun, verb

noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An infant that is still being breastfed (being suckled) by its mother.
  2. 2
    The act of suckling.
  3. 3
    feeding an infant by giving suck at the breast wordnet
  4. 4
    A young mammal not yet weaned and still being fed milk by its mother.
  5. 5
    a young mammal that has not been weaned wordnet
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    an infant considered in relation to its nurse wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of suckle form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
nurslingbabberbabebabybaby buntingbambino

Example

More examples

"In this estate whilst a goatherd named Lamon was tending his herds in the fields, he found a little child whom one of his she-goats was suckling."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English sukling, sukeling, sokeling, equivalent to suck + -ling. Cognate with Middle Dutch sogelinc (“suckling”), Dutch zuigeling (“suckling”), German Säugling (“suckling”).

Etymology 2

From suckle + -ing.

Related phrases

sucking reflexsuckling calfsuckling pig

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.