Latvian

Verb

sūkt tr., 1st conj., pres. sūcu, sūc, sūc, past sūcu

1. to suck; to absorb, to pump (to cause liquids, gases, etc. to move by rarefying the air inside some instrument, body part (especially the mouth), etc.)

   sūkt pienu‎ ― to suck milk

   dēles, odi sūc asinis‎ ― leeches, mosquitoes suck blood

   bites sūc ziedu sulu‎ ― bees suck flower juice

   sūkt dzērienu ar salmiņu‎ ― to suck drink with a straw

   sūkt dūmus no cigaretes‎ ― to suck smoke from a cigarette

   sūknis sūc ūdens‎ ― the pump sucks, pumps water

   audums sūc mitrumu‎ ― the fabric sucks (up), absorbs moisture

   augi sūc barības vielas — plants suck (up) nutricious substances

   lūpas apdedzinādams, Valdis sūca karsto kafiju un vēroja vīrus‎ ― burning his lips, Valdis sucked, sipped the hot coffee and watched the men

2. to sip (to drink with the lips pressed together; to drink slowly)

   Vaguļa brālēns sūca vēso limonādi, jo šī augusta diena bija vēl diezgan karsta‎ ― Vagulis' cousin sipped cool lemonade, because that day of August was still rather hot

   četri vīri sūca alu un vēroja svešnieku, kas turēja rokā kļavu lapas‎ ― four men were sipping beer and observing the stranger who held maple leaves in (his) hands

3. to smoke (a pipe, a cigarette, etc.)

   Ķimelis mierīgi sūca pīpi un izlikās neklausāmies sievas valodā‎ ― Ķimelis quietly sucked, smoked his pipe not to listen to his wife's language (= what she was saying)

   mēs klusējām un, domās iegrimuši, sūcām cigaretes‎ ― we were silent and, absorbed in thought, we sucked, smoked cigarettes

Conjugation

Synonyms

• (especially iterative): sūkāt, sūkstīt
• (especially mother's milk): zīst

Derived terms

prefixed verbs:

other derived terms:

• sūcējs, sūcēja

Related terms

• sūknis

References

1. ↑ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “sūkt”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, ISBN 9984-700-12-7