suck up

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

1. transitiveTo absorb (fluid).

   The dry soil sucked up water like a sponge.

   Synonyms: apple-polish, bootlick, bow and scrape, brown-nose, butter up, dickride, duchess, fawn

2. oftenslangwith toTo adulate or flatter (someone) excessively, generally to obtain some personal benefit or favour.

   Jimmy sucked up to the English teacher hoping he would get an A.

   2 more examples

   Selfless service, my foot! Tom’s in the middle of a very important business deal with Cream. If it goes through, he’ll make a packet free of income tax. So he’s sucking up to him like a Hollywood Yes-man.

   1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 1, in Jeeves in the Offing, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1963 (1975 printing), →OCLC, pages 8–9

   And in between sips of Coke / He told me that he thought we were sellin' out / Layin' down, suckin' up to the man / Well now I've got some / Advice for you, little buddy / Before you point the finger / You should know that I'm the man / I'm the man and you're the man / And he's the man as well

   1996, “Hooker with a Penis”, performed by Tool

   Synonyms: brown-nose, butter up, kiss up

3. slangTo fellate (someone).