suckling

suckling noun: an infant that is still being breastfed (being suckled) by its mother. Also the present participle and gerund of suckle.

Noun (1)

suckling (plural sucklings)

An infant that is still being breastfed (being suckled) by its mother.
A young mammal not yet weaned and still being fed milk by its mother.

Noun (2)

suckling (plural sucklings)

The act of suckling.

Proper noun capitalized: Suckling

Suckling (plural Sucklings)

A surname.

Also used as

suckling is also the present participle and gerund of suckle.

suckling meaning in Arabic

suckling in Arabic

infant that is still breastfeeding: رَضِيع raḍīʕ

Forms of suckling

Noun
plural	sucklings
Proper noun
plural	Sucklings

Plural of suckling: sucklings

Origin of suckling

From Middle English sukling, sukeling, sokeling, equivalent to suck + -ling. Cognate with Middle Dutch sogelinc (“suckling”), Dutch zuigeling (“suckling”), German Säugling (“suckling”).

From suckle + -ing.

Nickname from the noun suckling, perhaps for weak or baby-faced person.

Words formed from suckling

allosuckling

Phrases with suckling

suckling pigs

Questions about suckling

What does suckling mean?: Suckling means an infant that is still being breastfed (being suckled) by its mother.
What is suckling in Arabic?: Suckling in Arabic is رَضِيع (raḍīʕ). See Suckling meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is suckling?: Suckling can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of suckling?: The plural of suckling is sucklings.

Words near suckling in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: suckling (page history and authors); Suckling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “suckling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/suckling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.