suck in en · VERB
Meanings
-
(transitive) To draw inward using suction. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see suck, in.
I sucked in my belly, hoping to hide the extra weight I had put on over the holidays.
This is the component of the vacuum cleaner that sucks in dust.
-
(idiomatic, transitive) To cause (someone) to become slowly more and more involved in some business or situation that may not be to their advantage.
Now, I’m not usually one to be sucked in by social media wellness advice, but this is the second time a TikTok diagnosis has caught my eye.
2026 March 20, Brit Dawson, “‘I went on a cortisol ‘detox’ to tackle my spiralling anxiety — here’s what happened’”, in Cosmopolitan:Critics argue that chatbots can be dangerous because—just like social media—they are engineered to suck us in.
2025 December 11, Charlie Campbell, Andrew R. Chow and Billy Perrigo, “The Architects of AI Are TIME’s 2025 Person of the Year”, in Time:I really didn't want to be on the committee, but somehow I got sucked in.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| sucking in | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| sucked in | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| sucked in | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| sucks in | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Synonyms
rope into · suck into · draw in · rope in · draw into (cause someone to become involved in a situation:)
Translations (21)
uk всиса́ти (to draw inward using suction) · ru вса́сывать (to draw inward using suction) · sh у̀сисати (to draw inward using suction) · sh usisávati (to draw inward using suction) · pl zassać (to draw inward using suction) · sh ùsisati (to draw inward using suction) · uk ввісса́ти (to draw inward using suction) · ru всоса́ть (to draw inward using suction) · pl wessać (to draw inward using suction) · de einsaugen (to draw inward using suction) · pl wsysać (to draw inward using suction) · pl zasysać (to draw inward using suction) · bg всмуча (to draw inward using suction) · uk всмокта́ти (to draw inward using suction) · it risucchiare (to draw inward using suction) · uk всо́тувати (to draw inward using suction) · bg всмуквам (to draw inward using suction) · uk всмо́ктувати (to draw inward using suction) · hu beszív (to draw inward using suction) · sh усиса́вати (to draw inward using suction) · uk всота́ти (to draw inward using suction)