suction

UK: /ˈsʌkʃ^ən/ US: /ˈsʌkʃən/ ,(suk′shən)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

suc•tion /ˈsʌkʃən/   n. [uncountable]

1. Hydraulics the force that, owing to pressure differences, attracts a fluid or solid to where the pressure is lowest.

v. [~ (+ up ) + object]

2. Medicine to draw out or remove by sucking, esp. by artificial means.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

suc•tion  (suk′shən), n. 

1. the act, process, or condition of sucking.
2. Hydraulics, Physics the force that, by a pressure differential, attracts a substance or object to the region of lower pressure.
3. Hydraulics, Physics the act or process of producing such a force.

v.t. 

4. Medicine to draw out or remove by aspiration.

• Late Latin sūctiōn- (stem of sūctiō) a sucking, equivalent. to Latin sūct(us) (past participle of sūgere to suck) + -iōn- -ion
• 1605–15

suc′tion•al, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

suction / ˈsʌkʃən/ noun

1. the act or process of sucking
2. the force or condition produced by a pressure difference, as the force holding a suction cap onto a surface
3. the act or process of producing such a force or condition

Etymology: 17th Century: from Late Latin suctiō a sucking, from Latin sūgere to suck

ˈsuctional adjective