suck in

present singular third person sucks in · participle present sucking in · participle past sucked in · past sucked in

1. transitiveTo draw inward using suction. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see suck, in.

   This is the component of the vacuum cleaner that sucks in dust.

   1 more example

   I sucked in my belly, hoping to hide the extra weight I had put on over the holidays.

   Synonyms: draw in, rope in, rope into, suck into

2. idiomatictransitiveTo cause (someone) to become slowly more and more involved in some business or situation that may not be to their advantage.

   I really didn't want to be on the committee, but somehow I got sucked in.

   2 more examples

   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

   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

   Synonyms: draw into