leak

CEFRC1

/liːk/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To let liquid, gas, or information escape through a hole or gap.

  2. 02

    noun

    A hole or crack through which something escapes.

Examples

  • The explosion may have been caused by a gas leak.

  • The rain was dripping through a leak in the roof.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. A divulgation, or disclosure, of information previously held secret.

  2. The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.

More examples

In context

  • a leak in a boat

  • a leak in a gas pipe

  • a leak in a roof

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The old water pipe began to blank, so water dripped onto the floor.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English leken (“to let water in or out”), from Old English *lecan (“to leak”), Middle Dutch leken (“to leak, drip”) or Old Norse leka (“to leak, drip”); all from Proto-Germanic *lekaną (“to leak, drain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to leak”). Cognate with Dutch lekken (“to leak”), German lechen, lecken (“to leak”), Danish lække (“to leak”), Swedish läcka (“to leak”), Norwegian Bokmål lekke (“to leak”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Norwegian Nynorsk leka (“to leak”). Related also to Old English leċċan (“to water, wet”), Albanian lag, lak (“to damp, make wet”). See also leach, lake. (divulgation, disclosure of information): Compare typologically Bulgarian изтичане (iztičane), Pol...