/liːt͡ʃ/
OriginFrom Middle English leche (“blood-sucking worm”), from Old English lǣċe (“blood-sucking worm”), akin to Middle Dutch lāke ("blood-sucking worm"; > modern Dutch laak).
- An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of subclass Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
“The leech on his leg had swelled to more than five inches long, puffed and swollen on his blood.”
- figurativelyA person who derives advantage from others in a parasitic fashion.
“'Wrecked his body and his mind, no use to hisself or his family or nobody, just a leech on society'.”
“At this point, I felt this man was a leech. I suspected that he had spent a lifetime living off the good will of women that he met.”
- datedA glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.
- archaicA physician.
“Many skillful leeches him abide to salve his hurts.”
“The word Physitian we do vulgarly abuse (as we doe very many other(s)) for a Leech , or Medicus.”
“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 no”
- GermanicA healer.
“Their functions are threefold, those of the medicine-man (the leech, or healer by supernatural means); of the soothsayer (the prophet through communion with the invisible world); and of the priest, es”
“In ancient times runesters were a specialized class separate from that of the witch or ordinary spell caster (much as the other specialists such as the leech or healer and the seithkona were different”
“"Leech?" "Not another doctor".”
- The vertical edge of a square sail.
“To help combat these problems, almost all sailmakers trim the leeches of their headsails to a hollow or concave profile and enclose a LEECHLINE within the leech tabling.”
- The aft edge of a triangular sail.
“Trim the leech of the jib parallel to the main by watching the slot between the mainsail and the jib.”
- literally, transitiveTo apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.
“The poppy made him sleep and while he slept they leeched him to drain off the bad blood.”
- figuratively, transitiveTo drain (resources) without giving back.
“Near-synonyms: mooch, suck down”
“Bert leeched hundreds of files from the BBS, but never uploaded anything in return.”
“Her daughter Astrid (new Tim Burton muse Jenna Ortega) barely speaks to her, and her greasy-haired boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux, proving once again to be a comedic tour de force) obviously leeching ”
- archaic, rareTo treat, cure or heal.
“1564, Accounts of Louth Corporalː
Paid for leeching.. my horses very sick.”
“1566–74, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotlandː
To one man (that) broke his leg in Strivelin … Item to the man that leecheth him.”
“though there are many Pretenders to the Art of Farriering and Cow-leeching, yet many of them are very ignorant , especially in the Countrie”
- A surname originating as an occupation, derived from the profession leech, a former word for a physician.
Formsleeches(plural) · leeches(present, singular, third-person) · leeching(participle, present) · leeched(participle, past) · leeched(past) · Leeches(plural) · Leach(alternative)
Source: Wiktionary