leech

CEFRB2

/ˈliːt͡ʃ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A small worm that feeds on blood.

  2. 02

    noun

    A person who takes help or money without giving anything back.

Examples

  • A more plausible proposal is the one Leech presented in conjunction with Emmet's theory.

  • The earthworm and the leech are both segmented worms.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈlɪi̯t͡ʃ]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.

  2. A person who derives advantage from others in a parasitic fashion.

  3. An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of subclass Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.

More examples

In context

  • The leech sucked his blood.

  • Bert leeched hundreds of files from the BBS, but never uploaded anything in return.

  • 1610, Bolton, Armoriesː As if an expert leech must needs be expert in the physicks (that is, in those speculations which concerne the workes of nature) the nearest word to fall with our tongue, yet not farre from the thing, was physitian.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The swimmer found a blood-sucking blank attached to his leg after swimming in the lake.

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

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English leche (“blood-sucking worm”), from Old English lǣċe (“blood-sucking worm”), akin to Middle Dutch lāke ("blood-sucking worm"; > modern Dutch laak).