verb
suckle
SUK-ul/ˈsʌkl/
To feed an infant or young animal with milk from a breast or teat.
The mother goat suckles her kid at the udder.
Etymology
The nursing sense is old, but the formation is disputed: it may be a causative or frequentative form of “suck,” or a back-formation from “suckling,” originally an infant at the breast.
In context
lactating females will suckle any hungry baby not just their own the more youngsters that survive the greater the advantage to the group
More examples
- She sits down to suckle her newborn.
- The sow suckled all eight piglets.
- The mare is suckling her foal beside the fence.
Forms
suckle · suckles · suckled · suckling
Similar words
- nurse
- Also means feeding milk, but can describe broader caregiving.
- breastfeed
- Usually describes a person feeding a baby, rather than animals.