from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sucker \Suck"er\ (s[u^]k"[~e]r), n.
1. One who, or that which, sucks; esp., one of the organs by
which certain animals, as the octopus and remora, adhere
to other bodies.
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2. A suckling; a sucking animal. --Beau. & Fl.
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3. The embolus, or bucket, of a pump; also, the valve of a
pump basket. --Boyle.
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4. A pipe through which anything is drawn.
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5. A small piece of leather, usually round, having a string
attached to the center, which, when saturated with water
and pressed upon a stone or other body having a smooth
surface, adheres, by reason of the atmospheric pressure,
with such force as to enable a considerable weight to be
thus lifted by the string; -- used by children as a
plaything.
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6. (Bot.) A shoot from the roots or lower part of the stem of
a plant; -- so called, perhaps, from diverting nourishment
from the body of the plant.
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7. (Zool.)
(a) Any one of numerous species of North American
fresh-water cyprinoid fishes of the family
{Catostomidae}; so called because the lips are
protrusile. The flesh is coarse, and they are of
little value as food. The most common species of the
Eastern United States are the northern sucker
({Catostomus Commersoni}), the white sucker
({Catostomus teres}), the hog sucker ({Catostomus
nigricans}), and the chub, or sweet sucker ({Erimyzon
sucetta}). Some of the large Western species are
called {buffalo fish}, {red horse}, {black horse}, and
{suckerel}.
(b) The remora.
(c) The lumpfish.
(d) The hagfish, or myxine.
(e) A California food fish ({Menticirrus undulatus})
closely allied to the kingfish
(a); -- called also {bagre}.
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8. A parasite; a sponger. See def. 6, above.
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They who constantly converse with men far above
their estates shall reap shame and loss thereby; if
thou payest nothing, they will count thee a sucker,
no branch. --Fuller.
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9. A hard drinker; a soaker. [Slang]
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10. A greenhorn; someone easily cheated, gulled, or deceived.
[Slang, U.S.]
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11. A nickname applied to a native of Illinois. [U. S.]
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12. A person strongly attracted to something; -- usually used
with for; as, he's a sucker for tall blondes.
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11. Any thing or person; -- usually implying annoyance or
dislike; as, I went to change the blade and cut my finger
on the sucker. [Slang]
[PJC]
{Carp sucker}, {Cherry sucker}, etc. See under {Carp},
{Cherry}, etc.
{Sucker fish}. See {Sucking fish}, under {Sucking}.
{Sucker rod}, a pump rod. See under {Pump}.
{Sucker tube} (Zool.), one of the external ambulacral tubes
of an echinoderm, -- usually terminated by a sucker and
used for locomotion. Called also {sucker foot}. See
{Spatangoid}.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Carp \Carp\, n.; pl. {Carp}, formerly {Carps}. [Cf. Icel. karfi,
Dan. karpe, Sw. karp, OHG. charpho, G. karpfen, F. carpe, LL.
carpa.] (Zool.)
A fresh-water herbivorous fish ({Cyprinus carpio}.). Several
other species of {Cyprinus}, {Catla}, and {Carassius} are
called carp. See {Cruclan carp}.
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Note: The carp was originally from Asia, whence it was early
introduced into Europe, where it is extensively reared
in artificial ponds. Within a few years it has been
introduced into America, and widely distributed by the
government. Domestication has produced several
varieties, as the leather carp, which is nearly or
quite destitute of scales, and the mirror carp, which
has only a few large scales. Intermediate varieties
occur.
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{Carp louse} (Zool.), a small crustacean, of the genus
{Argulus}, parasitic on carp and allied fishes. See
{Branchiura}.
{Carp mullet} (Zool.), a fish ({Moxostoma carpio}) of the
Ohio River and Great Lakes, allied to the suckers.
{Carp sucker} (Zool.), a name given to several species of
fresh-water fishes of the genus Carpiodes in the United
States; -- called also quillback.
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