How to Use pucker in a Sentence

pucker

1 of 2 verb
  • His skin puckered a little around the scar.
  • Let the leaves start to pucker up a bit before rewetting the soil.
    — Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 15 Dec. 2017
  • Consumers are puckering up for sour food and drinks of all sorts.
    — Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2018
  • His arms and chest bear puckered scars from when he was slashed with a broken bottle.
    — Bob Ortega, CNN, 22 Oct. 2019
  • Mother and son puckered up for a selfie over what looks like school papers.
    — Sonja Haller, USA TODAY, 20 Oct. 2019
  • His name and resume alone will cause pitchers to pucker with runners aboard.
    — Bryce Millercolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Jan. 2023
  • Ariel is the one who leans in and puckers her lips, but Eric is too nervous.
    — Barry Levitt, Rolling Stone, 27 May 2023
  • When succulents start to lose water, their thick leaves will pucker or look wrinkly.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 28 May 2026
  • The seams pucker and stretch; the plaster bubbles loom up to 12 feet high.
    — Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 1 May 2018
  • On the nose, rich chocolate and the sweet vanilla swirl of oak; on the tongue, puckering plums.
    — William Bostwick, WSJ, 23 Mar. 2018
  • Apple notes give way to a mouth-watering finish of lime, and your mouth will pucker a bit.
    — cleveland.com, 16 Feb. 2018
  • The whistler may pucker the lips, finger whistle, or blow into a leaf or a simple wood flute.
    — Julien Meyer, Scientific American, 22 Nov. 2016
  • Collins answered the question by puckering his mouth and shaking his head.
    — Matt Barrows, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
  • The sleeves of his expensive bomber jacket puckered at the elbows.
    — John Jeremiah Sullivan, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2019
  • Heat brings the oils to the surface of the skin, which puckers with smoky char and snaps beneath a pinch of chives against the dense white flesh.
    — Craig Laban, Philly.com, 9 Dec. 2017
  • This was no little living doll, an item molded for our amusement, who smiled and puckered with a twist of her arm.
    — Michael Grant, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Aug. 2019
  • The fat gets squeezed by the bands and puckers up under the skin, which leads to the ‘cottage cheese’ appearance.
    — Anne Roderique-Jones, SELF, 16 July 2017
  • The quince cordial turns out to be delicious, with lip-puckering tartness and warm spice.
    — Paul Abercrombie, chicagotribune.com, 3 July 2017
  • Feel our mouths pucker at the not entirely surprising tart, tangy citrus bite.
    — Connie Ogle, miamiherald, 11 May 2017
  • Kardashian puckered her lips and gave the camera a smoldering look.
    — Starr Bowenbank, People.com, 15 Aug. 2025
  • Another fan snapped a pic of Shawn and Camila puckering up for a kiss.
    — Kara Nesvig, Teen Vogue, 29 July 2019
  • The leaves on his soybeans puckered and curled after they were exposed to dicamba, a problem known as cupping.
    — Danny Hakim, New York Times, 21 Sep. 2017
  • Both are perfect and lightweight enough for daytime or nighttime use for all-day nourishment — pucker up.
    — Sarah Han, Allure, 6 Aug. 2021
  • My skin started to pucker and wrinkle into itself, crying out for water.
    — Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit, 14 Mar. 2018
  • Don’t test the science — an unripe persimmon is full of astringent tannin that can leave your mouth puckered for hours.
    — Dawn Mitchell, Indianapolis Star, 20 Oct. 2017
  • In carcasses of foie gras ducks hanging in the slaughterhouse, the swollen livers puffed out of the puckered, plucked torsos.
    — Amelia Nierenberg, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2019
  • Tangy mango and guava mousses, electric jolts of mouth-puckering tang and sweetness, also are worthy of a splurge.
    — Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2023
  • As recently as last week, new global soccer jerseys appear to have puckering around the shoulders.
    — Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Desperate to learn how to pucker up, Max recruits his friends to spy on a teenage couple making out next door via his dad's off-limits drone.
    — Garrett Mitchell, azcentral, 15 Aug. 2019
  • Desperate to learn how to pucker up, Max recruits his friends to spy on a teenage couple making out next door via his dad’s off-limits drone.
    — Garrett Mitchell, Detroit Free Press, 31 July 2019

pucker

2 of 2 noun
  • The kind of cry where your lips pucker and your face scrunches up.
    — Keith Bierygolick, The Enquirer, 21 May 2021
  • There are friendly masks with big, toothy grins, or red lipstick puckers.
    — Washington Post, 19 May 2020
  • This one starts with a pucker-y, tart lemon curd, which is chilled before the whites and cream go in.
    — Sally Pasley Vargas, BostonGlobe.com, 31 May 2022
  • Nothing a shot of mezcal with the pucker of sour apple can’t blot out.
    — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Get all the way in on the pucker-worthy fun by wearing yellow, too.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Aug. 2019
  • One had no beak, only a crimson pucker between its dark-bright eyes.
    — Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2025
  • If, however, a lump hurts, makes your skin pucker, or won't go away, see your doctor.
    — Kristin Koch, Seventeen, 10 Oct. 2017
  • The steam can cause those materials to pucker in a way that will be tricky to reverse.
    — Jolie Kerr, Esquire, 15 Apr. 2016
  • His team even lined up some bricks back at the team shop and let employees who didn't make the trip pucker up and kiss `em.
    — Dan Gelston, courant.com, 29 July 2017
  • And scientists are hot on the trail of the receptor for lemon’s sour pucker.
    — Veronique Greenwood, Discover Magazine, 16 Aug. 2012
  • This type of vinegar provides the right amount of pucker without being too sour.
    — Kate Merker, Good Housekeeping, 26 May 2021
  • Because flaky lips reflect less light, a dry pucker could be making your lips look smaller.
    — Kelsey Stiegman, Seventeen, 16 Feb. 2021
  • Neither smack you with the pucker-punch acidity found in some kombuchas.
    — Paul Stephen, ExpressNews.com, 25 Sep. 2019
  • Then his eyes and mouth folded into that signature squint-and-pucker.
    — Zach Everson, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 May 2018
  • These easy-to-make treats have the texture of a dense brownie and the sweet pucker of a lemon bar – thanks to the lemon juice and zest.
    — Bethany Thayer, USA TODAY, 9 June 2022
  • Goat’s milk cheddars are the high-hat of the cheese drumkit, adding even more of that tangy pucker found in cow’s milk cheddars.
    — Tia Keenan, Bon Appetit, 6 June 2017
  • Let babies taste bitterness in foods such as kale, and pucker at the sourness of grapefruit.
    — Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2022
  • Every time one encounters it, there’s a pucker factor - and the hope that no one has crashed below.
    — Jim Clash, Forbes, 14 Nov. 2021
  • The result is a brisk, angular wine, with plenty of that tart, perky zip that almost makes your mouth pucker.
    — Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 May 2021
  • These pillows showed no signs of wear after use, nor did the covers crinkle or pucker from a heated blanket.
    — Christine Persaud, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2021
  • And this little pucker of quaffer is as likable as a Rude AF can get.
    — Craig Laban, Philly.com, 7 Feb. 2018
  • Pickling mellows the grassiness that fresh peppers can sometimes have, and the acid in the pickling brine adds a slight pucker.
    — Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2021
  • The flan is a sturdy round, better for the ring of strawberry sauce that circles it and the passion fruit sauce on top that lends pucker.
    — Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2023
  • The butter is now lemony without introducing the pucker of lemon’s juice.
    — Washington Post, 28 June 2021
  • Like teeny tiny lemon tarts, these lemon tassies will make your mouth pucker — a welcome contrast after a meal of heavy, mellow and meaty flavors.
    — Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2021
  • Peach leaf curl causes stone fruit leaves to curl and pucker, even on trees sprayed with fungicide and horticultural oil last winter.
    — Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 May 2026
  • But what about those of us who choose not to go under the needle but still want to experience that coveted soft, pillowy pucker?
    — Sophie Dweck, Town & Country, 10 Sep. 2022
  • Transfer the wings to a platter, making sure to pour any sauce remaining in the bowl over the top, and serve with lemon wedges for anyone who wants extra pucker.
    — Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2022
  • What lies in that green bottle is alive and raw (most commercial vinegars are pasteurized), savory and vegetal with just the right amount of pucker.
    — Kyle Beechey, Bon Appétit, 10 June 2021
  • Then the evil grin loses its enthusiasm, gradually working its way to a toothless pucker.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pucker.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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