suck the mop

present singular third person sucks the mop · participle present sucking the mop · participle past sucked the mop · past sucked the mop

1. idiomaticslangTo be left in a disadvantageous position.

   Kathy says Much obliged, but what I don't appreciate about this piece of moral news is the pairing of successful writer with sexy hotshot lit prof, which leaves us pregnant librarians and failed playwrights sucking the mop.

   1987, John Barth, The Tidewater Tales, page 426

2. UKidiomaticobsoleteslangOf a bus: to be deliberately boxed in by another so as to lose the opportunity to pick up passengers.

   "Now then, poppy-head:" — this to the conductor of a rival omnibus before us — "how long am I to go on sucking the mop?"

   1867, Banter, number 1, page 81