as in infant
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as in nursing
to give milk to from the breast
the image of a mother suckling her babe is a standard artistic symbol of maternal love and nurturing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of suckling
Aisha Muharrar, Bon Appetit Magazine, 2 Oct. 2025
Their texture and design mimics a nipple, so babies respond well to the familiar suckling apparatus.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025
John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 24 Nov. 2025
Those people under him are suckling on his piggly-wiggly titties.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suckling
Noun
The quiet, rhythmic suckling that babies do when feeding.
—Aisha Muharrar, Bon Appetit Magazine, 2 Oct. 2025
Their texture and design mimics a nipple, so babies respond well to the familiar suckling apparatus.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025
Verb
The pups have the epicurean delight of suckling one of the highest fat-content milks in the animal kingdom.
—John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 24 Nov. 2025
Those people under him are suckling on his piggly-wiggly titties.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suckling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suckling
Noun
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In their off-hours, one employee was nursing an infant and homeschooling a preschooler, and another worked a second job as a real estate agent.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Mar. 2026
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How child care subsidies work Placing an infant in an early childhood or day care center can cost parents annually an average of $15,000.—
Beth Kania-Gosche,
The Conversation,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Other factors include minimum wage hikes that raised expenses for lower-wage workers, including nursing home employees and home health aides.—
Ken Alltucker,
USA Today,
12 Mar. 2026
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Texier was nursing an injury for a long time, and still managing it while representing France at the Olympics.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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And if a mother kept a piece of jasper on hand throughout her child’s infancy, they would both be protected from malign spirits of the air and from the tongue of the ancient serpent that was hell‑bent on ensnaring newborns.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
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Illinois also broke with federal vaccine recommendations on other occasions last year, deciding to continue to recommend hepatitis B vaccines for nearly all newborns and to continue to recommend COVID-19 vaccines for all children ages 6 to 23 months.—
Lisa Schencker,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
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When Heathcliff, a foundling, discovers that Cathy Earnshaw, the daughter of the impoverished Yorkshire lord who’s taken him in, has played a prank on him by putting eggs in his beds to be crushed, the boy plunges his fingers into the slippery puddle of yolk and albumen left behind.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
9 Feb. 2026
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Cathy might be as uninhibited as Heathcliff when roaming the outdoors, but a woman of her status can’t be allowed to marry a foundling, especially one who now works for her family as a servant.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Number two, what a little time and compassion can do for neonates and orphans.—
Jen Reeder,
Forbes.com,
15 Jan. 2026
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Among these studies, 12 post-approval studies included 3,646 neonates, newborns, infants and children.—
Dr. Jade Cobern,
ABC News,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There is a photo, too, of the doll itself, a nude little cherub packaged in a box designed to look like both a manger and an illuminated Bible.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
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As a matter of fact, cherub tomatoes (a type of grape tomato) are the #1 snacking tomato in the entire country, says Duesenberg.—
Sophia Beams,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Suckling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suckling. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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