|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
sucker
suck·er / ˈsəkər/ • n. 1. a person or thing that sucks, in particular: ∎ a flat or concave organ enabling an animal to cling to a surface by suction. ∎ the piston of a suction pump. ∎ a pipe through which liquid is drawn by suction. 2. inf. a gullible or easily deceived person. ∎ (a sucker for) a person especially susceptible to or fond of a specified thing: I always was a sucker for a good fairy tale. 3. inf. a thing or person not specified by name: he's one strong sucker. 4. Bot. a shoot springing from the base of a tree or other plant, esp. 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. 5. a freshwater fish (family Catostomidae) with thick lips that are used to suck up food from the bottom, native to North America and Asia. 6. inf. a lollipop. • v. 1. [intr.] Bot. (of a plant) produce suckers: it spread rapidly after being left undisturbed to sucker. 2. [tr.] inf. fool or trick (someone): they got suckered into accepting responsibility. |
|
|
Cite this article
"sucker." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sucker." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sucker.html "sucker." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sucker.html |
|
sucker
sucker common name for members of the family Catostomidae, freshwater fish related to the minnow and catfish families and like them possessing an intricate set of bones forming a highly sensitive hearing apparatus. Suckers range in size from 6 in. (15 cm) to 3 ft (90 cm). They have fleshy, sucking mouths and are sluggish bottom feeders, eating small aquatic animals and plants. The white, or common, sucker, found throughout North America, is an important food fish with firm, sweet (though bony) flesh. Buffalo fish are large suckers whose coarse, bony, nutritious flesh is also much used as food in the central states. The bigmouth buffalo fish reaches 4 ft (120 cm) in length and 65 lb (29 kg) in weight, the smallmouth buffalo fish sometimes attains 20 lb (9 kg), and the black, or mongrel, buffalo fish is intermediate in size. Other suckers are known as red horses, carp suckers, and freshwater mullets. Suckers are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Mormyriformes, family Catostomidae. |
|
|
Cite this article
"sucker." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sucker." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-sucker.html "sucker." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-sucker.html |
|
sucker
sucker
1. An underground shoot arising adventitiously from the roots or lower stem of a tree or shrub and emerging from the soil to form a new plant, initially nourished by the parent plant. In cultivated species where grafting (see graft) is practised (e.g. roses and fruit trees), production of suckers from the stock may seriously detract from the vigour of the grafted scion. The term may also be applied to the modified root of a parasite which enables it to extract nutrients from the host. 2. An organ with which an animal attaches itself to a surface. |
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL ALLABY. "sucker." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "sucker." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-sucker.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "sucker." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-sucker.html |
|
sucker
sucker An underground shoot arising adventitously from the roots or lower stem of a tree or shrub and emerging from the soil to form a new plant, initially nourished by the parent plant. In cultivated species where grafting (see GRAFT) is practised (e.g. roses and fruit trees), production of suckers from the stock may seriously detract from the vigour of the grafted scion. The term may also be applied to the modified root of a parasite that enables it to extract nutrients from the host.
|
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL ALLABY. "sucker." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "sucker." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-sucker.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "sucker." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-sucker.html |
|
sucker
sucker (turion) A shoot that arises from an underground root or stem and grows at the expense of the parent plant. Suckers can be dug up with a portion of root attached and used to propagate a plant. If, however, a plant is grafted onto a different rootstock, as many roses are, any suckers will be of the wild rootstock, rather than the ornamental scion, and must be removed.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"sucker." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sucker." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O6-sucker.html "sucker." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O6-sucker.html |
|
sucker
|
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL ALLABY. "sucker." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "sucker." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-sucker.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "sucker." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-sucker.html |
|
sucker
sucker
•bazooka, euchre, farruca, lucre, palooka, pooka, rebuker, snooker, Stuka, verruca
•babushka
•booker, cooker, hookah, hooker, looker, Sukkur
•Junker • onlooker • yarmulke
•Hanukkah • manuka
•chukka (US chukker), ducker, felucca, fucker, mucker, plucker, pucker, pukka, shucker, succour (US succor), sucker, trucker, tucker, yucca
•skulker, sulker
•bunker, hunker, lunker, punkah, spelunker
•busker, tusker
•latke • motherfucker • bloodsucker
•seersucker • abaca • stomacher
•Linacre, spinnaker
•massacre
•Jataka, Karnataka
•Tripitaka • Ithaca
•burka, circa, Gurkha, jerker, lurker, mazurka, shirker, smirker, worker
•tearjerker • craftworker
•metalworker • networker
•caseworker • fieldworker
•teleworker • shopworker • outworker
•homeworker • stoneworker
•woodworker
|
|
|
Cite this article
"sucker." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sucker." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-sucker.html "sucker." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-sucker.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
