leach

English

Etymology

From Middle English leche (“leachate”), from Old English *lǣċ, *lǣċe (“muddy stream”), from Proto-Germanic *lēkijō (“a leak, drain, flow”), from Proto-Germanic *lēk-, *lak-, *likanan (“to leak, drain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg(')- (“to leak”). Cognate with Old English leċċan (“to water, moisten”), Old English lacu (“stream, pool, pond”). More at leak, lake.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: lēch, IPA: /liːtʃ/, X-SAMPA: /li:tS/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: leech
• Rhymes: -iːtʃ

Noun

leach (plural leaches)

1. A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
2. A tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.
3. (nautical) Alternative spelling of leech.

Verb

leach (third-person singular simple present leaches, present participle leaching, simple past and past participle leached)

1. (transitive) To purge a soluble matter out of something by the action of a percolating fluid.

   Heavy rainfall can leach out minerals important for plant growth from the soil.

2. (intransitive) To part with soluble constituents by percolation.

Usage notes

Do not confuse this verb with the verb leech.

Derived terms

• leachate

Translations

to purge a soluble matter out of something

• Finnish: huuhtoa (fi)
• German: auswaschen
• Russian: вымывать (ru) (vymyvatʹ)

• Slovene: izlužiti (sl)
• Spanish: lixiviar (es)

Anagrams

• chela