sucker

 
Pronunciation: /ˈsʌkə/

noun

  • 1a person or thing that sucks, in particular:
  • a rubber cup that adheres to a surface by suction: a tape recorder was attached to the phone with a rubber sucker
  • a flat or concave organ enabling an animal to cling to a surface by suction: they attach themselves to fish by means of a sucker the suckers run along each tentacle
  • the piston of a suction pump.
  • a pipe through which liquid is drawn by suction.
  • 2 informal a gullible or easily deceived person: if suckers will actually pay to do the work, more fool them what’s needed is a sucker—sorry, brave volunteer—to test it out
  • (a sucker for) a person especially susceptible to or fond of (a specified thing): I always was a sucker for a good fairy tale
  • 3North American informal a thing or person not specified by name: he’s one strong sucker
  • 4 Botany a shoot springing from the base of a tree or other plant, especially one arising from the root below ground level at some distance from the main stem or trunk.
  • a side shoot from an axillary bud, as in tomato plants or maize.
  • 5a freshwater fish with thick lips that are used to suck up food from the bottom, native to North America and Asia.
    • Family Catostomidae: many genera and species
  • 6North American informal a lollipop.

verb

  • 1 [no object] Botany (of a plant) produce suckers: it spread rapidly after being left undisturbed to sucker
  • 2 [with object] North American informal fool or trick (someone): they got suckered into accepting responsibility