leech

¹

[leech]

noun

1. 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, especially without giving anything in return, and usually with the implication or effect of exhausting the other's resources; parasite.

   Synonyms: sponger, extortionist, bloodsucker

3. Archaic.,  an instrument used for drawing blood.

verb (used with object)

1. to apply leeches to, so as to bleed.

2. to cling to and feed upon or drain, as a leech.

   His relatives leeched him until his entire fortune was exhausted.

3. Archaic.,  to cure; heal.

verb (used without object)

1. to hang on to a person in the manner of a leech.

   She leeched on to him for dear life.

leech

²

[leech]

noun

Archaic.

1. a physician.

leech

³

Or leach

[leech]

noun

Nautical.

1. either of the lateral edges of a square sail.

2. the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail.

Leech

⁴

[leech]

noun

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

leech

¹

/ 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 medicinal leech

2. a person who clings to or preys on another person

3. 1. an archaic word for physician

   2. ( in combination )

      leechcraft

4. to cling or adhere persistently to something

verb

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

leech

²

/ liːtʃ /

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• leechlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of leech¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English lech(e), Old English lǣce, lȳce; replacing (by association with leech ² ) Middle English liche, Old English lȳce; cognate with Middle Dutch lake, leke, lieke; akin to Old English lūcan “to pull up, pull out,” Middle High German liechen “to pull”

Origin of leech²

First recorded before 950; Middle English leche, lech, lecche, Old English lǣce, lēce; cognate with Old Frisian letza, leischa, Old Saxon lāki, Old High German lāhhi, Gothic lēkeis; akin to Old Norse lǣknir

Origin of leech³

First recorded in 1480–90; earlier lek, leche, lyche; akin to Dutch lijk “leech, leech line,” Old Norse līk nautical term of uncertain meaning, but probably “bolt rope, leech line”

Word History and Origins

Origin of leech¹

Old English lǣce, lœce; related to Middle Dutch lieke

Origin of leech²

C15: of Germanic origin; compare Dutch lijk

Example Sentences

The decision pays off in the film’s third act, when Matthew is exonerated in the court of the public and receives the adoration he’s been trying to leech from Oliver.

From Salon

In the meantime, Millie told the inquiry "confusion, frustration and anxiety... was leeching into my home".

From BBC

"They pushed me over at gunpoint. I spent two days without food or water in the middle of a field in knee-deep water teeming with mosquitoes and leeches," Ms Banu said, wiping away tears.

From BBC

A trematode has a very specific life cycle, leeching onto three hosts that include a freshwater snail, a fish and then a bird or human who ate the infected fish.

From Los Angeles Times

This fear makes evolutionary sense: Parasites aren't technically predators, but they can cause serious harm as they leech off of their hosts.

From Salon