leach

UK: /'liːtʃ/ US: (lēch)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

leach¹  (lēch), v.t. 

1. Chemistry to dissolve out soluble constituents from (ashes, soil, etc.) by percolation.
2. Chemistry to cause (water or other liquid) to percolate through something.

v.i. 

3. Chemistry (of ashes, soil, etc.) to undergo the action of percolating water.
4. Chemistry to percolate, as water.

n. 

5. Chemistry the act or process of leaching.
6. Chemistry a product or solution obtained by leaching;
   leachate.
7. Chemistry the material leached.
8. Chemistry a vessel for use in leaching.

• late Middle English leche leachate, infusion, probably Old English *læc(e), *lec(e), akin to leccan to wet, moisten, causative of leak 1425–75

leach′a•ble, adj. 
leach′a•bil′i•ty, n. 
leach′er, n. 

leach²  (lēch), n. [Naut.]

1. Invertebrates, Nautical, Naval Terms leech³.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

leach / liːtʃ/ verb

1. to remove or be removed from a substance by a percolating liquid
2. to lose or cause to lose soluble substances by the action of a percolating liquid
3. another word for percolate1,

noun

1. the act or process of leaching
2. a substance that is leached or the constituents removed by leaching
3. a porous vessel for leaching

Etymology: 17th Century: variant of obsolete letch to wet, perhaps from Old English leccan to water; related to leak

ˈleacher noun

leach / liːtʃ/ noun

1. a variant spelling of leech2

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

leech¹ /litʃ/   n. 

[countable]
1. Invertebrates a bloodsucking worm once used widely for letting out blood in medical treatments.
2. a person who clings to another for personal gain;
   parasite.

v. 

3. to cling to and feed upon, drain, use up (someone, or someone's resources): [~ + object]
   Her companion leeched her of all the money she had.
   [no object]
   constantly leeching from his relations.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

leech¹  (lēch), n. 

1. Invertebrates any bloodsucking or carnivorous aquatic or terrestrial worm of the class Hirudinea, certain freshwater species of which were formerly much used in medicine for bloodletting.
2. a person who clings to another for personal gain, esp. without giving anything in return, and usually with the implication or effect of exhausting the other's resources;
   parasite.
3. [Archaic.] an instrument used for drawing blood.

v.t. 

4. to apply leeches to, so as to bleed.
5. to cling to and feed upon or drain, as a leech:
   His relatives leeched him until his entire fortune was exhausted.
6. [Archaic.] to cure;
   heal.

v.i. 

7. to hang on to a person in the manner of a leech:
   She leeched on to him for dear life.

• bef. 900; Middle English leche, Old English lǣce; replacing (by confusion with leech²) Middle English liche, Old English lȳce; cognate with Middle Dutch lieke; akin to Old English lūcan to pull out, Middle High German liechen to pull

leech′like′, adj. 
Synonyms

• 2. bloodsucker; extortioner; sponger.

leech²  (lēch), n. [Archaic.]

1. a physician.

• bef. 1150; Middle English leche, Old English lǣce; cognate with Old Saxon lāki, Old High German lāhhi, Gothic lēkeis; akin to Old Norse lǣknir

leech³  (lēch), n. [Naut.]

1. Nautical, Naval Terms either of the lateral edges of a square sail.
2. Nautical, Naval Terms the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail. See diag. under sail. 

Also, leach. 

• 1480–90; earlier lek, leche, lyche; akin to Dutch lijk leech, Old Norse līk nautical term of uncertain meaning

Leech  (lēch), n. 

1. Biographical Margaret, 1893–1974, U.S. historian, novelist, and biographer.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Leach / liːtʃ/ noun

1. Bernard (Howell). 1887–1979, British potter, born in Hong Kong

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

leech / liːtʃ/ noun

1. any annelid worm of the class Hirudinea, which have a sucker at each end of the body and feed on the blood or tissues of other animals
   See also horseleech
2. a person who clings to or preys on another person
3. an archaic word for physician
4. (in combination): leechcraft

verb

1. (transitive) to use leeches to suck the blood of (a person), as a method of medical treatment

Etymology: Old English lǣce, lœce; related to Middle Dutch lieke

leech, leach / liːtʃ/ noun

1. the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail or either of the vertical edges of a squaresail

Etymology: 15th Century: of Germanic origin; compare Dutch lijk