SUCTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does suction mean? 

• SUCTION (noun)
  The noun SUCTION has 2 senses:

1. a force over an area produced by a pressure difference

2. the act of sucking

  Familiarity information: SUCTION used as a noun is rare.

• SUCTION (verb)
  The verb SUCTION has 2 senses:

1. remove or draw away by the force of suction

2. empty or clean (a body cavity) by the force of suction

  Familiarity information: SUCTION used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUCTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A force over an area produced by a pressure difference

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("suction" is a kind of...):

force per unit area; pressure; pressure level (the force applied to a unit area of surface; measured in pascals (SI unit) or in dynes (cgs unit))

Derivation:

suction (empty or clean (a body cavity) by the force of suction)

suction (remove or draw away by the force of suction)

suctorial (adapted for sucking or clinging by suction)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of sucking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

suck; sucking; suction

Hypernyms ("suction" is a kind of...):

consumption; ingestion; intake; uptake (the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating))

Derivation:

suck (draw into the mouth by creating a practical vacuum in the mouth)

suck (draw something in by or as if by a vacuum)

suck (attract by using an inexorable force, inducement, etc.)

suction (empty or clean (a body cavity) by the force of suction)

suction (remove or draw away by the force of suction)

suctorial (adapted for sucking or clinging by suction)

• SUCTION (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they suction    ... he / she / it suctions   
Past simple: suctioned   
Past participle: suctioned   
-ing form: suctioning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove or draw away by the force of suction

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

the doctors had to suction the water from the patient's lungs

Verb group:

suction (empty or clean (a body cavity) by the force of suction)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

suction (the act of sucking)

suction (a force over an area produced by a pressure difference)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Empty or clean (a body cavity) by the force of suction

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

suction the uterus in an abortion

Hypernyms (to "suction" is one way to...):

empty; evacuate; void (excrete or discharge from the body)

Verb group:

suction (remove or draw away by the force of suction)

Domain category:

operation; surgery; surgical operation; surgical procedure; surgical process (a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

suction (the act of sucking)

suction (a force over an area produced by a pressure difference)

 Context examples 

Issue associated with the removal by suction of excess fluid or gas from a body cavity.

(Decrease in Suction Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

A procedure in which a rounded glass cup is warmed and placed upside down over an area of the body, creating suction that holds the cup to the skin.

(Cupping, NCI Dictionary)

Procedure using suction, usually with a thin needle and syringe, to remove bodily fluid or tissue.

(Aspiration, NCI Thesaurus)

The flow of qi is restored by using pressure, needles, suction, or heat at hundreds of specific points along the meridians.

(Chinese meridian theory, NCI Dictionary)