suckle

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to feed by drawing milk from a breast or udder

   The newborn calf began to suckle within an hour of birth.

2. 2
   verb

   to feed a baby or young animal with milk from a breast or udder

   The ewe calmly suckled her two lambs.

From Middle English sukelen, probably a back-formation from sukeling, 'a suckling or infant.' It is built on suck with the frequentative suffix -le, originally suggesting repeated sucking.

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